Garden Structures
Shade structures in the garden are nothing new. Mesopotamian pergolas and Egyptian, Persian, and Oriental pavilions offer evidence that structures have been a part of gardens for as long as people have gardened. Many names, some synonymous and some overlapping, designate shade structures: pergola, gazebo, belvedere, summer house, pavilion, garden house, ramada, lath house, casino, and arbor. To minimize the confusion, and offer a little historical perspective on the subject, we have illustrated many different styles of garden structures below.
Shade structures can be roofed over solidly or covered just enough to diffuse direct sunlight. They can be elaborate garden living rooms or simple sheltered nooks. Their style can match or blend with the style of any house or garden. Most are built as separate, freestanding structures, but they can also be built to take advantage of an existing wall or fence.
More elaborate structures to create shade can be covered or enclosed with the same materials used for patio roofs. In addition to esthetics, other considerations become even more important when you are planning not just a roof but a structure whose sides may also be enclosed. How much air circulation do you need? Do you want to create maximum privacy? Do you want year-round shade or only summer shade? Thoughtful choice of design and materials is important.
The pergola, or covered walkway, dates back to the first known gardens. Pergolas are traditionally constructed using pillars, often substantial, and beams and rafters, with the addition of vines, which may envelop or merely soften and decorate the structure. A spacious, large-scale pergola may have benches or seats. Ina hot-summer climate it can enable you to move about the garden comfortably, even at midday. It can also provide shelter for shade plants in hanging planters, or in containers or beds close to its north or east edge.
An arbor is essentially like a pergola, except that it exists for its own sake, rather than as a covering for a walkway. It is a shaded bower created by wood and vines. Trellises are sometimes a component. Its design is often simple, even rustic. This structure is probably known best as a support for grapevines.
The lath house, usually freestanding but often attached to the house, is more often designed to provide shade for plants than for people, although you can make a wonderfully comfortable living area by situating garden furniture among its fuchsias, tuberous begonias, and ferns. For maximum privacy let vines cover areas of lath wall, but be careful not to cut out too much air circulation and light.
When most people think of freestanding shade structures in the garden, they think of garden houses, by whatever name—gazebo, for example. Some of the most graceful were built in the gardens of colonial Williamsburg. Some of the less graceful were constructed of heavy iron during the Victorian era. A traditional garden house of the Southwest is the ramada, a roughhewn structure of heavy log posts and beams covered by poles or by palm leaves, reeds, or yucca stalks. Whatever the style of your house and garden, a garden house can be built in the same style, or in a simple modern design that blends in well.
Your garden house can have a floor of wood, concrete, stone, brick, tiles, or gravel (although gravel is practical only if seats are stationary). Attractive flooring can be made with wooden rounds, stone, or brick, with gaps filled by a low ground cover, such as Corsican mint (Mentha requienii), if there is enough light and moisture.
If you live in an area where mosquitoes, flies, or gnats area problem, consider screening in your garden house. To increase the versatility of your structure, you might install folding louvered panels. Plants in containers or hanging baskets are an attractive embellishment and a link with the garden. Even the simplest garden house might be wired to permit the use of electric fans, lights, and music.
Your garden house can serve multiple functions. For example, it can include outdoor cooking and dining facilities, or an attractively enclosed tool shed and potting area. It can house a hot tub, and part or all of it can serve as a dressing room near the pool or hot tub. You can design a garden house that serves as a simple shelter from the sun and a vantage point for viewing the garden, or a shelter that provides in addition most of the comforts of a home-across-the-garden.
Whatever kind of shade structure you decide on, consider calling in an architect or a landscape architect for consultation and maybe for the design itself. A professional has the knowledge to help you avoid costly, unfortunate mistakes and to create the structure that will best suit your needs.
