You can install the best garden arches yourself. Designed for easy assembly with hand tools, these arches or garden arbours can be used as decoration on their own or integrated with climbing plants and other decorative objects. Most gardens tend to look a bit bland without a few plants. Popular climbing plants are normally allowed to grow on garden arches and you need to know which of them works best for your garden even if you’re not getting your degree in floral arrangements.
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Best for Climbing Plants
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Best Size
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Best Durability
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3.5
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3.5
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3.5
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£44.99
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£87.98
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£265.99
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12/17/2022 12:58 am GMT
Woodside Decorative Metal Garden Arch
Woodside’s Decorative Metal Garden Arch is one of the easiest to assemble. Made from metal, it creates a tall arch with decoration on the sides. It also features lockable gates with similar decorations. One of the main reasons people buy it is for its simplicity and ease of installation. But we also love just how good it looks in various parts of the garden.
Apart from being excellent support for climbing plants, it also represents one of the top options for those seeking to separate certain spaces in their garden. It can be used with fences so that you create no-go areas around your house.
At a height of 84 inches and a width of 43 inches, it also comes with sufficient room to pass regardless of your size. Since it sits on 4 legs, it’s also quite stable. This is why it’s so important to have it properly grounded as it won’t budge even on the windiest days.
- Excellent design for climbing plants
- Durable metal arch construction
- Popular with clematis owners
- The gates closing system can be improved
Tom Chambers Classic Garden Arch GA09
If you love traditional garden arbours, you need to look at this Tom Chambers design. A bit more relaxed than others, it brings minimalism to your garden where other brands try to load their garden arches with endless pergola and garden furniture decoration.
But the result here is that it can highlight your plants and not the arch itself. There are so many growing climbing plants which you can add to it, especially white, yellow, and red plants which contrast its black finish. At the same time, if you love darker colour plants, you can easily paint it white.
We also love how easy it is to assemble the free delivery arch.. You need to put 6 metal pieces together on each side of the arch. You can start with the base and move up to finish with the 2 front and back arches. The instructions recommend starting with the arches but some users find this method a bit more time-consuming.
- Made with a tall 228cm profile
- 110cm wide for practicality
- Made with a minimalist design
- Assembly instructions need to be better
New England Arbors Vienna Arch
When it comes to wooden garden arches, most gardeners feel they need a bit of maintenance. While they are all the focal point of the garden, you need to paint them from time to time to keep them from falling apart in a few years due to rain and constant UV exposure.
This is where New England came in the spotlight with its Vienna Arch. Entirely made out of vinyl, the arch doesn’t require any attention in terms of paint. You only need to rinse it with a garden hose from time to time to have it looking brand new.
Its vintage-inspired timeless design certainly goes a long way when you want your garden to look a bit royal. While you can certainly add plants to it, there are many people who prefer to use it on its own above a pathway to elevate the look of a garden as a garden gate or with trellis. Decorative gazebo options are endless with it and you can easily have it installed both in the garden in the back of your house and in front of your home.
- Made from durable vinyl
- Assembles in minutes
- Tall at 232cm
- A bit heavy at 20kg
Maribelle Large Decorative White Metal Arch Mirror
Those who love to stand out even more often resort to rare items which elevate the look of their garden, patios, or outdoor space around their homes. Such a rare item is represented by the Maribelle metal mirror which elevates the look of any outdoor space and garden buildings. The other good news is it comes preassembled which requires no special garden tools to put together.
But how can you use it in your home? You can simply lay it on the ground resting against an old tree in your garden. You can hang it from a fence or from the exterior walls of your home using its top hanging bracket.
The effect creates works in 2 dimensions. It offers the illusion of extra space as any mirror. But it also adds a classic window effect to space and people tend to use it in different ways. At 5kg, it’s very heavy mainly due to its metal frame. But it also stands out with a rugged construction which allows it to last for decades.
- Arch-mirror design
- Tall at 51cm
- Made from strong metal
- Only available in white
Rowlinson Square Top Arch
For those who love natural heavy duty freestanding wooden garden arches, Rowlinson’s design is the first choice. This arch elevates the look of any garden and it can be used with or without climbing plants to breathe new life to an old space as well.
It takes 2 people to assemble the rustic arch due to the weight of the wood and its metal connectors. All wooden elements come nicely packaged for safe transportation. You need a good drill and a few possible screws outside those already in the pack to have it secured in a custom way. Otherwise, you only need a drill to have it assembled in about 30 minutes.
The wooden arch comes treated but unfinished. You can apply lacquer or any wood paint to it to have it protected from the rain as with all other garden structures such as trellis. We recommend natural wood colours as well as pure white to open up the décor of a living garden, especially when creating infinity arches for plants such as honeysuckle around summer houses.
- Made with trellis sides
- Pressure-treated wood
- Made with lattice sides for plants
- It takes 2 people to assemble it
TecTake Garden Rose Arch
Suitable for trellis climbing plants, various roses or clematis, this simple arch is very easy to install. Since it comes with just a few metal sidebars, it’s highly efficient for large edging plants. This is also visible from its size. It comes with a height of 240cm making it one of the tallest on our list.
It’s also one of the rose arches that are the easiest to install. Only a few metal brackets need to be put together. All in all, it weighs just 2kg and you don’t need any help to have it installed in minutes. You need a screwdriver to have it ready, however.
In theory, this metal arch is never painted. But several users have reported painting it completely after a couple of years to give their garden a new look. In the end, it might be something you do in your garden as well, especially if you use pressure washers to keep it clean.
- It only weighs 2kg
- Made with weatherproof construction
- All metal garden arch elements are clearly labelled for easy assembly
- Not the sturdiest garden arch
How to choose the best garden arch
When it comes to choosing the best garden arch, it may seem impossible to pick just one design. But eventually, you have to settle on garden arches that could work for your outdoor space. Metal garden arbours are usually the best when it comes to durability. But as those who care about their gardens, the most might already know, it’s more than that.
Materials
Most archways are made from metal or wood. You can occasionally find ones which are made from vinyl as seen above. But each material comes with its own pros and cons. Metal arches are sturdy but they can rust away if you don’t paint it once every few years. Wood looks elegant but it can be damaged by the rain if you don’t paint it from time to time. You need to be aware that minimum maintenance is inevitable even with steel arches.
Assembly
How much time does it take to assemble a garden arch? The fasted garden arch to assemble takes around 5 minutes. Complex wooden-made garden arches can take up to 1 hour to assemble and they can require the use of an electric drill.
Decoration
The decoration added to each garden arch can vary considerably. Some are very simplistic. Others are made with complex decoration that mimics nature. Whatever your choice is, you need to consider the larger space around the garden arch for the best fit. They even work around playhouses or next to the BBQ with the right setup.
Height
Did you know that not all garden arches have the same height? Some of these clematis or rose arches or are only 160cm tall. Others are over 200cm tall. Depending on where and how you plan to use them, you need to consider height as one of the elements at least as important as the materials they’re made from.
These arches are normally used on driveways and alleyways where you need to walk and pass through them. This is where you need tall garden arches. On the other hand, you don’t need the tallest structure if you plan to only use it for grower plants unlike with shelving arches for potted plants. However, you still need proper plant care with sufficient fertilisers if you want to make the most out of your pergola arch.
Design originality
Finding original designs is becoming more difficult today. But shopping online opens up new opportunities for those planning to buy their first garden arch. You don’t want your garden to look like your neighbours’. This is why you need to invest in the products which really stand out, especially since these are the type of once in a lifetime acquisitions as most garden arches never break down if properly maintained as the popular Huntingdon Arch.
Some people love garden arches with decoration while others love minimalistic designs. But have you ever considered buying multiple metal garden arches to add a different structure to your garden? You can adapt to how you use multiple arches to have a unique-looking outdoor space.
Final words
Some of the best garden arches of the moment are made to withstand difficult weather. Your priority is to find a garden arch which works with the types of plants you plan to grow. If you don’t want plants to climb on your garden arch, you can choose any design that has some resemblance to your garden. This means pairing the garden arch with a bench or fences for some type of visual perspective that doesn’t make it look out of place.
As seen from the garden arches with plant support listed above, you can order them online and have them assembled in minutes. Assembly instructions are sent out with each garden arch so you shouldn’t worry in case you haven’t put one together before.
But you should know the location of your garden arch remains permanent once plants start growing on it. You might change its angle slightly, but you can’t change its locations as the roots of the plants such as climbing roses start to grow deeper into the ground. With the right imagination, you can have an excellent-looking garden with garden arches that add structure to it. These can be installed even without paying the most expensive garden decoration teams which often only do a job you could do yourself.
