What to look for in garden Arches?

Hello one and all,

I was looking to buy a metal gothic style garden arch but wasn't sure what would be suitable for quite a windy coastal site on heavy clay wet soil- so i am desparate for you recommendations

I've seen the Garmann arches for about £25 and Tom Chamber arches for about £60. But i am a bit worried about whether they would still be standing a few years later.

I could spend about £150 on the arch- would wooden ones last longer than the metal ones?

Any advice would be really welcome as i plan on improving the design of my back garden- photo's to one day follow.

Thanks in advance

TND

 

Hi I have both wooden and metal , the metal ones are useless (my opinion) they have rusted and are about to fall apart with the weight of the plants .they have lasted 4 years my wooden rose wisteria arch is very robust and also went in 4 years ago the only thing that has fallen off is the piece of wood that made the highest point look fancy

I live near the coast as well the wooden ones stand up to the weather and will last longer , the only real good arches and my brother has one is made from forged iron but cost a mint £££ .

Hope this helps


Spruce

 

Thanks that is a great help- i live fairly near you- in southgate near pennard. How long do the wooden ones tend to last?

 

We inherited a metal arch with the bungalow. The paint was peeling so I removed loose paint and repainted using hammerite. 26 years later it is as good as new. Preparation and application. Cheers, Tony.

 

Hi

I think you are Gower way ?? I am by Ogmore/Ewenny both beautiful places to live

I would easily say 10 to 15 years ??

I soaked the bottom of the post in a creasote (when you could get hold of it) for a week each one had a huge plastic bottle and I just kept topping it up then let them air dry for another week before I put it up I think in my Album you should see it covered in Wisteria


Spruce

 

Hi TND

I think what arch you use depends on what you are going to grow over it.


This was my trellis, with an arch on the right hand end, in early 2009. It was one that I bought and had been up for 7 years. The point of the picture is that if the arch is fully covered - you really can't see it. So there is no point in paying a lot of money for a very beautiful one.


In the autumn of that year it fell down. So rather than buy another which would only last a short while I decided to make one. The construction was very simple - just uprights and bits across - but I didn't plan on seeing the top part anyway.


I decided that the reason the old one rotted was that it was made of fairly flimsy wood and sunk directly into the ground - with the aid of some concrete. I had soaked the bottom of the uprights in creosote before I put the arch up but it didn't help much. The wood at the top, that was clear of the ground, was perfect. But the wood in the ground was totally rotten.

My replacement was made from treated 4" x 4" fence posts. But I made a special effort to avoid the wood from being in contact with the ground. I dug holes, and placed the uprights on a concrete brick - so they weren't touching the soil. I them made little concrete plinths round them to ensure the exposed wood was well away from soil level. I used Morrisons cut flower buckets (8 for 99p), cut the bottom out and placed them upside down around the uprights, and filled with concrete. I am hoping that this version will last longer.

 

Hi spruce- yes i live in the Gower. A wonderfull place to visit. One day i hope to have a nice enough garden to invite people down to see it- as long as they bring their own day lillies though. Thanks for your help- its been really really usefull.

Peter S- Thanks for your post. I had read your original post about this (?7 years to rot?) but i simply can't use a permentant fixing like concrete as everytime i decided i've got what i want i increase the size of my border by another half meter. I'Ve decided against a montana but hope to put a mixture of roses/honeysuckel and late clematisis on it. I'd also like to thank you for all your posts on this website. As a long term lerker, I really find your replys very helpfull

 

Thanks for you comment TND - you are very kind.

I believe strongly that wood rots quite quickly if its put directly in the ground because it is almost permanently damp. But if its not in contact with the soil and hence able to dry out, then it could last for 50 years or more.

So if I didn't use concrete pillars I would be tempted to use Meta posts with perhaps a bit of tile underneath to ensure that the wood was clear of the soil. You would have to hide the ugly bottoms of the metaposts, and perhaps an upsidedown black pot would do the trick.

 

I put up (at least, I blagged my partner in to doing it) a Heath Robinsonian type of pergola a couple of years ago. (All summer long it's hidden by leaves, anyway.) As I've also had problems with posts rotting off I set the bases into concrete in the ground, but used plant pots, like PeterS, to protect the bases of the posts from any contact with soil. However, wouldn't the portion that's buried in concrete be subject to moisture from the cement and eventually deteriorate anyway?
Still, if it does, it'll create an opportunity for something new!

 

Madahhalia - you reminded me of something I didn't say. I added a waterproof additive to the concrete mixture.

I think concrete is fairly waterproof if its thick enough. For instance it the wood was standing on a concrete paving slab - I would regard it as being fairly dry, compared to standing on the earth. Wood always holds a certain amount of moisture in it and is able to wick water up from the wet bottom to an exposed part from where it can evaporate. I think in the case of a wooden pole sunk into the earth - it can't wick the water up fast enough. But if the concrete just slows down the rate of water ingress maybe the wood can wick it away fast enough.

The truth is I don't know. However logic suggests that the more precautions you take the better it will be.

When I mentioned this before, someone said that their poles shrunk slightly away from the concrete plinth leaving a gap which could accumulate rain water - so I think this system does need a little monitoring and maintenance. But I see it lasting longer that just sinking wood into the ground.