So the other arbor "matches" the first one? How wonderful to have two pieces of wonderful woodworking from your sweet dh! I am looking at all the pavement/pavers and all that is in your yard! To die for, AnjL! Such a lovely get-away!

Oh YES! There is that model he made! LOVE it! I will have to check out your cubit! That mini arbor sure would have looked grand in your mini garden.

yup, identical to the big one, he might have made a few adjustments along the way...but I cant see em! LOL

They are are really such lovely arbors! Can't beat the workmanship! What kind of wood were they built from?

he will only use redwood

beckygardener said:Dana - My patio is already on your forum! LOL! Photos are posted under your "Pavers" thread: http://cubits.org/concretideas...

AnjL - I remember when your dh made the "model" arbor! Do you still have that, too? He did a really beautiful job on the big arbor. I don't remember him making another arbor. What does it look like and where is it located in your yard?

I just love your garden photos! Your yard looked amazing then! I remember those tipsy pots, too! I have 3 sets of them in my yard and still use them! Such fun! I hope you are able to restore your beautiful garden to the way it was or even better! Just so lovely!

oh yah i remember seeing them but i thought it was here

Well... a great bunch of Garden Rooms... Lovely plantings.. solving situation issues... and making a nature after ones own desire.... to be able to sit down.. and have nature be so close..yet so polished..
Each of these rooms seems like a great way to have the rooms inside a house be... I guess that's my ultimate thought of how it would be... inside.. and through the walls into the outside as ya'll have found it...
1AnjL... GREAT work... the covering of the sound wall... really softens it up.. and takes you right into a covered forest look... and with a million perches for birds a real nature magnet .. Wonderful arbors... if a bit unconventionally built.. surely well done.. Strange to make a minature first.. only as it's about as much work as a full sized one...just lighter work.. Good choice red wood.. as it will be there for a good long time... I framed all of mothers greenhouse with it... and I used it for all the window openings in her house... into which the windows are set... along with all of the interior door trim and floor moldings.. beautiful work there.. on all fronts...
Dana... It sure looks inviting there... lovely roses... they look like they are doing wonderfully... it's a great country garden look... one of my favorite old school endeavors.. cascading through the arbors... entering into a wonderland of plantings... great minature garden also...
Becky... well lovely gardens there... and a wonderful Cubit for us... thanks... yes the white gives it all a polish look... supernatural... and clean... bright ..day or night.. loved the cattle pannel arbor... it will fade into a wall of vines... when they fill out... have you thought of growing morning glories on them.. OK... Just kidding... I saw some in other spots there... also..
OH>>OK...I'll post some pictures... I'm working on a roomish area for my lower garden... usually it's bumper to bumper plants.. with a walkway and chair... but I'm reworking it.. and Ya'll be the first to find it.... got carpet for it the other day.. and a new marble topped end table built out of a few old scraps and bits of this and that.. now for a lounge out of the same material... I'll post it soon,,
Gordon

Thanks Gordon, and thanks for resurrecting this thread with the vine covering the freeway wall. I searched and couldnt find that pix anywhere! Sadly we had a huge storm in April and the winds blew the vine off the wall We were only able to save about 5 feet of the vine.... lost about 20 feet in height and now the ugly wall is back again
The good news is that the 5 foot tall vine that is left IS flowering, so hopefully will grow fast and recover that wall!

hi gordon !.. what a perfect forum for you! you have a room with a view!
thanks for bringing this back up ill have post more pics.. i finally put marble chips down for the pathway.. im in love with it.

AnjL - I am surprised that winds blew the vines off. I had read so many articles about the trumpet creeper actually growing into the mortar and any cracks and crevices. What a bummer that happened!!! Well, if the roots are well established, it's my guess that the vine will come back stronger and thicker!!!

Gordon - Thanks for your encouraging compliments! The white fencing does show off many of my plants very nicely. I have become a big fan of white for contrast! I do have MGs growing on some of the arbors, but I have also tried something different this year ... I am growing climbing roses and clematis up one of my arbors. I've seen these stunning photos of such a duo and am trying it myself. I picked up some clematis vines and roses in a co-op here on Cubits and they are doing quite well. Probably won't be until next year or the following year before these baby plants really take off and provide stunning coverage on my arbor. I can't wait to see how it all looks! I am growing them in containers, not the ground! So stay tuned!

I look forward to seeing your new garden room! Sounds very elegant from your description! I have only built the garden structures. Furnishing my rooms is in the works! I bought a concrete bench mold and am making benches now to place around my garden beds. And a pathway and a few more beds will hopefully finish out my backyard. When all done, very little grass should be left. I've gone to self-watering bucket containers as well for most of my garden plants now, too! Between the soil in the ground and the knot root nematodes, I can't plant anything in the ground here. Most everything dies. So even though I actually have a yard, I am growing everything in containers. Isn't that ironic?

Oooh, Dana! I am really interested in seeing that! Please do post some photos!

Here is my latest project. It is either a very large arbor or a very small pergola area. LOL! I installed 2 beds one on each side. I planted my 3 year old Sweet Autumn Clematis in each planter. And yes! Those are growing in the ground with some really good soil that I amended and amended! The planters are actually raised beds.

This is one of the containers with a climbing rose and a clematis in it. I have a matching rose and clematis on the other side of the arbor to balance it out. I can't wait until the plants get big enough to cover the arbor!

And here is another cattle panel arbor leading from my Hummingbird and Butterfly Zen Garden into the rest of the backyard. There are two different plants - one on each side growing in the self-watering buckets. One is a Corkscrew vine and the other is Blue Sky vine. But my "Blue" sky vine has white blooms, not blue! So I am now wondering about that one. It is currently blooming and the blooms are white. It smells like honey! Both are beautiful vines with white flowers. :-)

I do have a dilemma ...

I had a beautifully shaped Coral Honeysuckle bush in standard tree form. The cold winter we had killed it back to almost the ground.

I remember some folks have mentioned that they use old tall branches and dead trees as a structure for MGs to climb. Please take a look at my photo. Should I plant some MG vines under this tree and let them grow up and cascade all over this tree?

I forgot to post this photo of my cattle panel arbor seating area. Concrete bench made from a mold. I'm becoming the ultimate DIYSer! LOL!

I have 3 of these cattle panel arbors in my yard. One is at the gate entrance into the backyard. I'll post a photo of it when the I. indica vine has it covered. Then there is the arbor leading from the zen garden into the backyard (posted above). And this one near the back corner as a seating area. I have Heavenly Blue and Pearly Gates I. tricolor MG vines growing up the arbor. When the vines cover it more and they start blooming, it should be a very pretty area to sit and relax.

I have 2 concrete seat molds and then one leg mold. One bench seat mold is this one - a straight bench. The other is a small curved bench. I am in the process of making a curved bench. I plan to make quite a few benches to strategically place around my yard. Nothing more quaint than small benches to rest on and enjoy nature! I've got lots of criters in my yard that are very entertaining! My little garden paradise!

wow! becky I love that bench! where did you get the molds from? are they expensive?

AnjL - I got my bench molds from History Stones. http://www.historystones.com/b... They have the straight bench seat on sale right now. I got really lucky... they sent me the curved seat and I had ordered the straight one. Instead of having me send it back, I was told I could do what I wanted with it and they sent me the correct seat mold. The leg they have listed is different than the one I ordered. Mine is plain, this new mold has an interesting design. The initial expense for the molds was off-set by the cost of a single bench if I purchased one from HD or some place else. They were running $49 - 59 each bench already made. It is costing me about $5.00 to make a complete bench. Molds are reusable. I have plans to make 6 - 10 benches for placement around my yard. These are small (short) benches. I don't have to use concrete wire mesh in them either. Just pour in the concrete and let them set up under shade for about a week before I put them outdoors in my yard. I love them! I am thinking of using contact paper and putting some small tile pieces, sea glass, or something else down to make a butterfly pattern on the seat top. Add the tile pieces to the contact paper to protect the design on them and then lay it down inside the mold and just pour in the concrete on top of the patterned pieces. I might even paint some of the benches a contrasting or coordinating color to compliment the garden area they are in! The possibilities are endless!

thanks for the link! I dont think I'll make them for this house, but maybe once we move I hate to put more money into a home for someone else LOL

I was surprised to see the straight bench seat on sale. Cool! Hey, for $5.00 in concrete you can afford to make benches and leave them!