The construction of the rose pergola

Chapter 8 (extract 2) of "Roses for English Gardens" by Jekyll and Mawley (1902), in which Miss Jekyll discusses methods of rose pergola construction.

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Illustration: Wisteria pergola to show construction

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The pergola proper should be always on a level and should never curl or twist. If a change of level occurs in its length in the place where it is proposed to have it, it is much better to excavate and put in a bit of dry wall right and left and steps at the end, either free of the last arch or with the last two pairs of piers carried up square to a higher level, so as to give as much head-room at the top step as there is in the main alley.

There is a great advantage in having solid piers of masonry for such structures; piers of fourteen-inch brickwork are excellent, and in some districts even monoliths of stone can be obtained; but often the expense of stone or brickwork cannot be undertaken and something slighter and less costly must be used.

The illustration of a Wistaria pergola is the more instructive because the structure shown is only a few years old and the way the framework is made may be clearly seen. Here it is of squared wood, with the beams partly supported and much strengthened, and the whole fabric stiffened, by slightly curved or cambered braces of the same. It should be noticed how much the curve of the brace adds to the strength of the support and how pleasantly it satisfies the eye. It would have been better still if the beam itself had been ever so slightly cambered. It will also be seen that the feet of the posts, instead of going into the ground, rest on a wrought stone; an iron dowel let into both stone and post fixing it firmly. Thus there is no danger of the foot of the post rotting.

For the first year or two there is no need to fill in the top with the slighter poles that later will support the more extensive growths of the creepers; indeed the whole thing is very pretty, with a different kind of form and beauty, to the mature pergola with its fully filled roof. In these earlier years one sees more of the individual plants, and their first vigour of growth and bloom can be more fully enjoyed. In many cases such pairs of posts with connecting beam and side rails, but without roof, are more suitable than the complete pergola. This arrangement is shown in the pictures where they are placed across the main walks of the kitchen garden and where the Roses are to be seen from the walk alone, not from the sides, which are only vegetable quarters.

In some of the illustrations the framework is of the simplest possible construction, of oak or of larch. In these the posts go into the ground. This of course will have a shorter lifetime, and after several years signs of weakness must be looked for. A spur of larch or oak going deep into the ground and nailed or bolted to a shaky post will prolong its life for some more years, but there always comes a time of sore regret (when constant repair is needed) that it was not made more structurally permanent at the beginning.

The sides of the pergola may be much ornamented by hanging garlands of Roses trained to chains.

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More: The rose pergola in garden design

The rose pergola in Garden design

Chapter 8 (extract 1) of "Roses for English Gardens" by Jekyll and Mawley (1902), in which Miss Jekyll discusses the pergola as an important structure in garden design.

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Illustration: Rose 'Flora' on rough larch pergola.

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CHAPTER VIII

THE PERGOLA

Every garden is now wanting a Pergola, that pleasant shape of covered way that we have borrowed from Italy, where it is employed not only for its grateful shade but because it is just the right kind of support and way of treatment for the vines of sunny southern lands.

We have adopted the name because it is more convenient than the older name of covered alley, which three centuries ago was its nearest equivalent in English gardens. But this was formed on a much more elaborate wooden framework, a kind of uninterrupted arched trellis for the training of some green tree such as Hornbeam or Wych Elm, whose rigid branches had to be closely watched and carefully guided and fixed until the whole covering was complete; after which the chief care was the outer clipping into shape.

The modern pergola is a more free thing altogether and differently constructed. Upright piers of brick, stone, iron or wood are erected in pairs across the path and a connecting beam is put in place. A slighter top is made with thinner pieces such as larch poles, and the whole is planted with free growing climbers.

A Rose pergola should be so placed that it is well seen from the sides. One whose purpose is merely to make a shady way is better covered with leafy growths of Vine, Aristolochia or Virginia Creeper, for if they have not free air and space at the sides, the Roses will merely rush up and extend skyward where they cannot be seen.

But a pergola that crosses some open grassy space, such as might divide two portions of a garden, or that forms a middle line in the design of one complete garden scheme, is admirably suited for Roses, and a broad turf walk on each side will allow them to be seen to the best advantage.

Here it may be well to observe that a structure such as this, which is of some importance of size and appearance, cannot just be dabbed down anywhere.

It ought to lead distinctly from some clear beginning to some definite end; it should be a distinct part of a scheme, otherwise it merely looks silly and out of place. If there is no space where it will be clearly right it is better not to have it. There are arrangements less binding to definite design, such as pillars of Roses or arches at a cross walk, and many free uses on fences, trees, and unsightly places. An arboured seat is always a good ending to a pergola, and a place where ways meet often suggests a suitable beginning. Such a place may be glorified by circular or octagonal treatment, with a central tank or fountain, and pillars of Roses to mark the points of the octagon or relative points on the circumference. But space, proportion, and the nature of the environment must all be considered; indeed in this, as in the very smallest detail of procedure in garden design, just the right thing should be done or it is better let alone.

In small gardens in which there is no general design there often occurs some space where one department gives place to another — as when flower garden adjoins vegetable ground — where a short pergola-like structure of two or three pairs of posts may be quite in place and will form a kind of deepened archway. Such an arrangement in iron is shown in the illustration, where it makes a pleasant break in an awkward corner where there is a mixture of wall and flower border and a turn of the path.

More: Rose pergola construction