Building A Garden Arbor

Similar to a pergola and gazebo but with a smaller roof these arbors can act as a trellis using lattice to support vines and crawling flowers or vegetables.

Building a garden arbor.

This is a little shorter than most arbors but we figured if we went longer it would not allow us to be efficient about the posts because the 4x4s came in lengths of 8 we wouldn t have to cut them and waste any wood. You ll need one 8 foot board for each corner and two more that will be cut and used as stretchers bewteen posts. Additionally 2 inch x 4 inch boards will be needed to temporarily brace the structure during installation. Space the posts no more than 6 feet apart for greatest stability.

Embedding two 4 x 4 posts into the concrete aligned so they are perfectly upright plumb sandwiching pairs of 1 x 6 crosspieces joists around each post at the top. Building this arbor will be simplified if you keep in mind five steps in the construction process. A 4 foot x 8 foot section of garden lattice cut in half will provide the sides of the arbor. If you want to extend the width of the arbor increase the beam size to 2x8.

Choose a width we did 5 to the outer edge of the posts and height 7. Building and installing the arbor are about two days of work but you re best off spreading it over a three day weekend. Begin building an arbor by staking out the space. Use a posthole digger or an auger to make the holes 2 feet deep.

You can build it in a day add a coat of finish the next morning let it dry overnight and set up the arbor the following day.