How to Landscape With a Pergola

Choose a site. Decide if your pergola will be a free-standing focal point in your garden or yard, placed to take advantage of a stunning view. Design it to add a shaded outdoor room to an existing deck or terrace.

Decide on a style. Construct a pergola with rustic support posts or tree trunks for a primitive feel. Train grapevines to climb the uprights and spread across the top. Create a Roman style pergola with detailed stone columns. Extend your terrace with a pergola garden room featuring the natural look of cedar columns and shaded with a trumpet vine for a blast of color.

Consider the pergola's purpose. Create an outdoor room for socializing and dining. Build a kitchen for outdoor food preparation. Install a hot tub and forgo covering the pergola's top or install a retractable awning to assure unobstructed star gazing. Make your pergola do double duty as a conversation or dining area and arbor by placing it on a garden pathway and adding two twig chairs or a small bistro set. Cover it with climbing roses for a romantic touch. Go green. Turn off your air conditioning and use the pergola as an outdoor bedroom. Add curtains or blinds for privacy.

Add accessories. Hang potted plants from the pergola's top. Include trailing varieties like ivies and ferns for a graceful touch. Border the pergola with twinkle lights for a festive air. Bring in a space heater designed specifically for outdoor use or opt for a fireplace at one end of the structure and enjoy nature even when the weather cools off. Install a ceiling fan for relief from the hottest weather. Plant shrubs and flowering bushes around the pergola. Choose varieties that complement the climbing plants you have trained to grow up the columns to the top to provide shade. Provide additional protection from the weather by hanging shades on the pergola's sides. Roll them up when not in use.