Monday, March 26, 2007

Stick Arbor










Well it is finally done. I have mixed feeling about it. I guess in reality I am not the rustic sort of person. I wish some of the sticks were straighter or lined up better.
.
The first picture is where I was laying the sides of the arbor out in the garage. It is hard to work with sticks like this because they aren't straight. You get the top and bottom of them the same distance apart and the middle looks out of line. What I ended up doing is just eye balling it to make sure it looked good.
.
The second picture is the completed side of the arbor. It looks ok but when I got it outside and all put together the left side looks way out of a line.
.
Third picture is both side set up outside. It took a couple of attempts to get them set the right distance apart. I didn't put the arbor in the ground at all. The wood I used would not last a long time being in the ground. What I did was drive T posts into the ground and wire the arbor to the posts. A T post is what a farmer would use to put up a fence to keep the cattle in the pasture. I hope that explains it well enough. You can find T posts at any of the big box hardware stores.
.
The last picture is the completed arbor. You are looking at the same side as the second picture. See how it looks worse in the last picture than it did in the second picture. Once all the vines cover it you won't notice it. I guess I am most worst critic.
.
The top of the arbor I tried to use odd shaped pieces of wood. Like ones that were really curved or bent to give the top a little additional height. I haven't decide if I will seal this or not. The chairs in an earlier blog I sealed with an outdoor sealer and it made them shine. Not sure if I like that or not. It does add a little polish to the rustic look. Anyway let me know what you think.

7 comments:

David (Snappy) said...

The arbor looks fine to me.Can imagine it will look great covered with vines.I bought a large seven foot arch and thought to use it for morning glories..When i put the plants in they did not even reach the first metal bar.A few months late i could not see the arch because the morning glories had covered every inch of it.I guess you need the vision to see what it will look like.The wood fits with your gardens rustic charm.

Stuart said...

Very rustic. It looks great and as Snappy said it's going to look even better when you have something growing over it.

My personal opinion is that the more rustic a piece of landscaping architecture the better suited to plants it becomes.

Great job. I hope you update with some photos at a later date.

KC MO Garden Guy said...

Thanks for the words of encourgement Snappy and Stu. I am my own worst critic and tend to be too hard on myself. I have meet too many plant snobs and worry about what they would say. But to hell with them. I like it and that is that!!

Unknown said...

It would really look good with lady banks on it. My concern is the wind. Another good job. Keep it up. Jane

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

The main thing about arbours is that they need to be sturdy because over time they will carry a lot of weight. Your arbour looks fine to me, nice and rustic and will go well with many climbers. My personal choice would be oldfashioned climbing roses, a clematis or two and a honeysuckle.

Cheryl said...

Great blog! I love to flower garden and love seeing other garden blogs. Rustic is good!

Kylee Baumle said...

Ohhh, I think it's lovely! It's going to look really great with a vine climbing all over it. I hope we'll get to see it when that happens!

Good job!