Arbors

"Necessity is the mother of invention" author unknown

Don't forget to click on a photo 
to see larger.

 These photos were taken mid June.

 I "lucked" into these arbors for less
than $100.00, end of season at Big
Lots.

We tried a couple of ways to stabelize
the arbors to stay upright and be able
to hold vines. Hubby even came up with
a "driver" idea that works just fine.

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before." - Vita Sackville-West

 This light weight, unfinished
wood one spent one year
laying on the ground after a summer of trying to come up with a way to keep it from blowing over. It would never be able to support vines that way!


I spent many wee morning hours mulling, looking at photos in books and magazines.....................
Not a good idea if you want to go back to sleep.  I have to "pick my garden magazine" reading times as I tend to get so inspired, I can hardly wait for daylight to get out there and plan.

 This metal arbor came with a gate which I repurposed to another site.

We came up with a Rube Goldberg arrangement that reinforced the knowledge that hubby is not a builder or inventive gardener. It worked, but not aesthetically pleasing.

My idea is probably not new, but just a "Why not?" one day while pondering how to have pots with vines (dream on) or lush vines growing from the ground (dreamer me).

I bought 4' T-posts at Lowe's. They are heavier metal than the 3' ones.  With the help of hubby and his clever driver, we stabilized each leg by setting post in the ground and my ever present cable ties for attaching. I will change the cable ties to black that are supposed to be less susceptible to sun's rays.

So far, they have withstood 35 mph wind gusts and hours of wind.  The real test will be when (ever the dreamer) I have vines covering them.

A 2 ½" piece of pipe and an end cap

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." - Gertrude Jekyll 1843-1932 


 "Gardening is always more or less a warfare against nature. It is true we go over to the 'other side' for a few hints, but we might as well abandon our spades and pitchforks as pretend that nature is everything and art nothing." - James Shirley Hibberd, journalist and gardener, 1825-90.