Pergola in the suburban area: advice on the construction and design of the structure with their own hands.

Pergola in the country. Why it is used

There is no easier way to decorate your garden site than building a pergola. It does not matter at all whether it will perform the functions of a gazebo, a shady canopy or frame the garden paths. In any case, on hot summer days you can enjoy the shade and coolness that this amazing structure will create for you - the pergola.

What is the pergola

Simple garden arches, or pergolas, designed to support curly vines, have been known since ancient times. The Roman emperors also rested in their shadows. Such designs are very practical, easy to install, give the overall picture of the garden of nobility and sophistication.

Currently, garden pergolas are widely used in landscape and garden design. Usually, the pergola for supporting the grapes is an arch with lintels about 1 m wide. The height of the structure depends on how much the plant planted under it is able to completely lock the arch. For tall plants, pergolas up to 4 m in height are common. By setting up a series of such arches, interconnected by cross bars, you get a whole corridor of climbing lianas or vines. This is the classical pergola.

To build cozy garden gazebos, pergolas are created from several supporting arches, making gaps between them in order to build several entrances. Especially cozy in this case will be the arches of wooden slats, because the combination of the structure of the tree with the green leaves give a feeling of special warmth and comfort.

No less attractive are the canopies covered with vines, which, like the pergolas of the gazebo, turn the space of the country plot into a cozy courtyard of the times of Ancient Rome.

If you think that pergolas are called to perform only a decorative role, then you are deeply mistaken. With the help of pergolas it is possible to divide the whole territory of the site into various zones - economic, recreational area, front door and others. In addition, the installed metal pergola for the grapes will create additional conveniences when cultivating this favorite summer residents culture, by autumn pleased you with a beautiful picture of fragrant clusters against the background of a dense carpet of green vines.

If you want to plant decorative grapes, even in winter you will admire the densely braided pergola from the amazing red leaves.

Kinds of pergolas

Asking the question how to make a pergola with your own hands, it is necessary, first of all, to determine what kind of meaning will be borne by its installation:

• Decorative( decoration of the site).
• Practical( use as trellis for growing grapes).
• Auxiliary( hide from the eyes of outbuildings).
• As a recreation area arrangement.

Different form of arches help to emphasize the overall style or create the necessary contrast if you need to select a zone.

Archs of rounded form will be able to create a unique atmosphere of the eastern courtyards. Add to the picture will be placed kadki with vigorous plants.

Rectangular arches with wide columns will complement the classical style. Looks good looking and pergola in the style of country.

Openwork gratings at any time will be able to adjust to a romantic mood. In addition, they look great on any patch of free space.

Brick or stone arches are appropriate in large estates. There they additionally underline the width and spaciousness.

The fan-shaped arches of the are very beautiful even without other additional elements.

If you are the owner of a large plot, install a few pergolas scattered all over the area. Fancy black and white patterns will impress any imagination. Of course, you can buy a ready pergola, but it's much more interesting and honorable to install the design yourself.

Building a wooden pergola with your own hands

To build a wooden pergola with your own hands, it's best to choose a design with a flat roof. Wooden arch arches are much harder to install.

For simplicity of installation it is also worth choosing cheap pine beams and beams. In addition, there will be no need for any complicated instrument. That's all that you need to stock up for this project:

• Manual circular saw.
• Drill with a set of drills for wood.
• Roulette, ruler, pencil.
• Hammer, chisel.
• Instrumentation( level, plumb line, cord).
• Wood preservatives.
• Paints and varnishes, brushes.
• 4-5 bags of portland cement brand M-400.
• Bolts, washers, fastening nuts.

From materials it will be necessary: ​​

• four beams 50х100мм in length not less than 4м.
• nine beams 50х100мм in length 3м.
• four bars 100x100 three-meter length( then the height of the pergola will be 2.5 meters, if you want above, take the bars longer).

So, we make pergola with our own hands. The step-by-step instruction includes only 10 steps.

1. It is necessary to cut obliquely the edges of three-meter beams 50x100mm. To do this, measure 120mm along the length of the beam and 50mm along its width.
2. In the same way cut the edges of four-meter beams. Then the pergola at the dacha will be stronger.
3. At the ends of the beams 100x100x3000mm, make a stud 50mm thick and 90mm high. To do this, connect all four beams with a clamp and make a cut with a depth of 25mm from the two opposite sides of the bars along their entire width. Saws should be at a distance of 90 mm from the edge. Cut down the excess with a chisel and a hammer.
4. Treat the prepared elements with wood preservatives, coat them with a primer. Then you can cover the lumber with paint or varnish. Then the pergola made by own hands will stay for a long time.
5. Mark a rectangle of 2600x3000mm in the selected place. Hammer in the corners of the wooden pegs. Check the correctness of the construction by measuring the length of the diagonals. They should be equal to each other. Otherwise, move the pegs to match the equality condition.
6. In the marked pegs, drill holes in the ground for the installation of the beams. If you want a pergola built on a dacha with your own hands to be stable, then the depth of the wells should be about 50 cm .
7. Install the beams in the pits. Orient them so that the length of the spike is parallel to the long sides of the rectangle. Using the level and cord, place the racks at the same height.
8. After stirring the cement slurry, fill them with dug holes. Using the level and plummet, get the vertical position of the racks.
9. After complete setting of the mortar, install the four-meter beams on the studs, by placing them on both sides of the racks. In this case, the edges of the beams will protrude beyond the bars at a distance of about 400 mm .Drill through holes, fix the beam / rack / beam connections with screws and nuts.
10. Size the top of the pergola so as to evenly install the remaining nine three-meter beams as crossbeams. Fasten the crossbar will help long screws, screwed at an angle.

Video. The second way to make a pergola for grapes with your own hands

As you can see, you do not need drawings to build a simple pergola with your own hands at the dacha.

Inside the built pergola you can set a table with benches, put a cozy sofa or garden swings. Planting in the corners of pergolas strongly growing climbing plants, you can achieve a good shading of the entire structure.

Photo of pergolas set in the country house

A huge number of designs of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the simplest pergola to the grapes, built by own hands, and ending with a complex gazebo with a wooden floor and an established barbecue area amaze imagination and excite imagination. Taking individual elements from several liked pergolas, you can create your own, based on your own conditions and preferences.

Photo of a large pergola

Tips for installing pergolas for a garden

Thinking about how to build a pergola with your own hands, be sure to follow several rules. Then the installed construction will not look like an inappropriate cumbersome structure.

1. Observe the proportions between the size of your site and the pergola , which you are going to install. It should not be lost on a large space. On a small site, a large pergola will be an inappropriate bulky construction.
2. When building a pergola as a resting place, does not overload it with a large number of cross-pieces .It should be airy and at the same time strong enough and reliable.
3. Take into account the increase in plant weight over time. This is especially true for vulture varieties of grapes. In addition, setting the pergola for grapes, calculate its strength, taking into account the sail structure. This factor further limits the height of the pergolas at 2.5m.
4. Do the job neatly , do not rely on the fact that the greens cover all your flaws. Remember that in the period from late autumn until mid-spring you will have to blush before your family and friends for the unsightly flaws in the structure.
5. Wooden building must be covered with antiseptics and protective compound. Metal handle any rust converter and color.

A thoughtful and neatly built pergola can delight you for many years, allowing you to be proud of your work in front of family and friends.

Varieties of pergolas. Video

Top of the best plants for arrangement of pergolas

As already mentioned, often pergolas are created for the purpose of growing grapes .It does not matter what kind of grapes you plant - cultural or decorative( girlish).Both species look great on pergola.

Excellent braiding design and hops , however this plant requires constant care, as it quickly overruns all the free space.

Actinidia, Clematis, Convolvulus, Nasturtium and Wisteria planted near the pergolas of the are especially beautiful in the flowering period, but the rest of the time they create a rather dense veil of leaves and vines.

Remembering the vines, it is impossible not to mention a plant like the woodcutter .Perhaps there is no more beautiful vine, but it is only necessary to handle the wood-beetle more carefully than with hops, since its top, climbing any tree, in speed will pull up a dense tent of leaves and lianas. The enveloped tree is killed with 100% probability.

Chinese Schizandra , planted near the pergola, will not only please the eye, but will also deliver to your table fragrant fruit for brewing a therapeutic and preventative tea that has a number of healing properties. In addition, bright red berries against the background of yellow-green leaves will serve as an additional charming decor of your garden design, whether it's a gazebo, a canopy or an arcade. Beautiful look and numerous cones of hops, and fruits of Actinidia, that's just planted in the latter case will have a male and female plant.

Near the wall of the house plant Fortune Fortune "Silver Queen" or ivy "Gold Heart" .In the shortest possible time they will fill the whole space, hiding the wall, and at the slightest opportunity they will hurry to get over to the roof surface. The special value of these lianas is that they can be planted in pots. At the walls of buildings surrounded by concrete paths, such a feature turns into an advantage.

Approach the installation of garden pergolas creatively, matching the design in accordance with the features of a particular site. Listen to the advice of professional designers. Strive not only to fill the vacant part of the garden with a bizarre design, but to create a real masterpiece capable of striking the most sophisticated imagination.