Cedar Window Garden Arbor

Step 1:
Drive the four carriage bolts that came with your cedar arbor through the sides of the arbor as shown to the right.

Step 2:
With the vertical lath set to the outside, place the two sides of the arbor side by side on the ground, approximately 3 feet apart. Using the 1 1/8" shingle nails that came with the package, nail the temporary lath spreaders to the bottom of the arbor sides.

Step 3:
With your garden arbor still flat on the ground, take the arbor arch and set the holes in its bottom over the bolts that you placed in the arbor's sides in step 1. Tap the arch into place with a hammer. You may wish to use a piece of wood between the arch and the hammer in order to prevent marking or denting the arch. Once the arch is attached, turn the arbor over and repeat this process with the second arch.

Step 4:
Now stand your cedar arbor in the correct vertical position. Take the 1 x 2 overhead pieces that came with the arbor and nail to both arches as shown to the right. You will note that there are pre-drilled holes in the arches to make this process easier.

Step 5:
Now move the completed arbor to the desired location in your garden or yard. Remove the temporary bottom spreaders and then anchor your arbor to the ground or to a fence.

Step 6:
Note: If your arbor is going to be freestanding and not attached to a fence or building, you will need to anchor it to the ground. See the steps to the right to see how to anchor the arbor within a concrete foundation.

Different gardening zones better support different kinds of flowering vines. Take your pick from these classic, gorgeous flowering vines for planting on your arbor.

Growing Wisteria On Your Garden Arbor
Wisteria comes to us from Asia and has adorned gracious gardens for centuries. Choose from white, lavender blue or even pink varieties and your garden will be filled with a heavenly fragrance in the spring and summer. Wisteria brings out the romantic soul in many of us, but it does have a notorious problem - it grows like an absolute weed and if planted on a house, will tear boards and roof tiles up as if they were made of paper. The solution to the rambunctious behaviour of wisteria is to plant it on a sturdy arbor, like the cedar arbor shown here. With a year or two, your new wisteria vine will train itself into a breathtaking arch over the arbor, and simple, easy pruning will keep it in check so that the vines don't run across the yard, attach themselves to your home, your electric wires, or you! People are often discouraged when they hear about the crazy, rambling habit of this stunning vine, but the answer to this is a quality cedar arbor that stands up to the strength of your wisteria vine for years and years of pleasure.

Attract Hummingbirds with a Trumpet Vine on your Cedar Arbor
If you love birds, Trumpet Vine, also called Campsis or Bignonia is a must in your garden. These vigorous, quick-growing vines explode in trumpet-shaped flowers of scarlet, orange or yellow, depending upon the variety you choosed. Every trumpet is a goblet of nectar, inviting hummingbirds to come take their tea in your garden and birdwatchers will get hours of pleasure sitting by an arbor full of Trumpet Vine. Like wisteria, trumpet vine can be invasive if grown on a house, but providing the support of a strong cedar arbor will keep the size of this rambler manageable with simple yearly pruning. Trumpet Vine is extremely heat and drought tolerant, and will fill your summer season with a sunburst of a color and a wealth of hummingbirds.

Double up your Clematis Vines for an Unforgettable Arbor Display
Evergreen clematis provides year-round greenery and a cloud of fragrant white blooms in the spring and summer months. It is hardy and vigorous and needs the strong support and manageability a well-built garden arbor provides. Yet, gardeners often experience a sinking feeling of indecision when they are comparing the enduring attributes of Evergreen Clematis with the showy bursts of color provided by the deciduous varieties. The huge, colored stars of Silver Moon, Nelly Moser, Pink Champagne or Blue Light truly delight the eye, but the fact that they die back to the ground each year is something of a drawback for gardeners who want their arbor to have greener cascading over it year-round. Here's the simple solution: plant both. Deciduous Clematis is a rather delicate vine, and loves to have something stronger to twine in and out of. Let is creep along inside the lattice panels of this cedar arbor and the woody stems of the evergreen clematis, and you'll have both foliage, frangrant white flowers and then the quick, glorious burst of colored stars, all in one. Do choose a truly sturdy arbor for this project!

A Trellised Arching Arbor of Golden Gelsemium Gives Your Yard a Touch of Southern Beauty
This evergreen vine has been rambling across the deep south for centuries, filling the air with its remarkable perfume and filling gardens with a matchless golden glow. The double-flowered Pride of Augusta is an especial favorite of gardeners. Left on its own, Gelsemium will rapidly spurt up to twenty feet in height, but it can easily be pruned to keep it smaller and is a perfect specimen for the garden arbor. Plant in full sun for summer bloom.

Make the Perfect Planting Choice for Your Cedar Arbor
Maybe sweet honeysuckle is your favorite from childhood, or you live in just the right climate for rambling old-fashioned roses, or you are a true vine connosieur hunting up unusual specimens like mandevilla, akebia, or snail flower vine. You look at the image of our arbor, above, and your mind's eye sees the perfect showcase for the flowering vine that will change your outdoor space from a so-so yard into an oh-my-goodness garden! Easy assembly and guaranteed quality make this Cedar Window Garden Arbor the right choice for your green dreams!