While simple in their design, garden arches can be a versatile addition to any style of garden, adding structure and focus and providing support for precious climbing plants. But what types of garden arch are available and how can you incorporate them into your garden?
Types of garden arch
Garden arches are generally available in wood and metal, with each type lending itself to different styles of garden. Wooden arches are often used to create or complement a rustic setting and work well in cottage gardens, whereas a metal garden arch sits well in modern, urban environments.
Metal garden arches
Made from steel or aluminium, a metal garden arch offers a contemporary aesthetic and can be painted to suit individual tastes. Graceful and slender and often decorative and ornate, metal garden arches can feature, flat, curved or pointed tops.
Wooden garden arches
Perfect for adding a rustic ambience to any garden, a wooden garden arch is provided with a natural finish that can be painted or treated as required. They often feature trellis or lattice panels to support climbing plants and, like their metal counterparts, can feature a variety of shaped or flat tops.
Using arches in the garden
A relatively quick and easy way to change the landscape of your garden, garden arches can be used to achieve a variety of effects. Here are our favourite ways to incorporate an arch into your outdoor space.
Showcase climbing plants
From roses, clematis and honeysuckle to ornamental fruit and vegetables, climbing plants can be seen at their best when trained to grow up and around a garden arch. An arch with lattice or trellis detailing offers anchor points for plants to attach to and when placed at the entrance to your home or garden, will offer a spectacular welcome to visitors.
Highlight a focal point
In larger gardens, an arch can be used to accentuate a picturesque area, drawing attention to a point of interest or features such as specimen plants, sculptures and water features. Adorning the arch with simple greenery rather than flamboyant blooms, will prioritise the scene beyond.
Create zonal areas
A well placed arch can help to separate different areas of a garden with different functions. For example, an arch can mark the transition from a lawned area to a seating area or, in kitchen gardens, it can separate plots for different crops. In smaller gardens, the addition of an arch can create privacy too.
Add height and texture with a garden arch
Contrary to popular belief, a garden arch can be used successfully in a smaller garden to create height and perspective. When placed at the beginning of a pathway, for example, an arch will serve to draw the eye and create a sense of space. Where space is limited, an arch allows you to be more creative with your planting, giving you the scope to explore vertical gardening, adding interest and a further dimension to a small garden.
Garden arches for sale at Witham Timber
At Witham Timber, we stock a range of pressure treated wooden garden arches, as well as a choice of powder coated steel arches. Choose from curved, flat or apex tops in our timber arches or a round- or flat-topped metal arch. Available in a choice of heights, widths and depths to suit every size of garden, our full range of arches can be seen here.
For any further help with picking the perfect garden arch, our friendly sales team can be contacted via email at sales@withamtimber.co.uk or by phone on 01205 359188.