PERGOLAS 33 



the inside. There are pergolas whose roofs have become 

 a thick tangle of climbers which seen from inside is a 

 mere thatch of stems and leaves, all their charms being 

 displayed above outside, where only the birds can enjoy 

 them. 



No heavy form of pergola can look well in a garden 

 in this country. At any rate, I have never seen one that 

 I would not have removed had it been mine. The lighter 

 they are in construction the better. Larch and other poles 

 are recommended, and some designs for them are simply 

 treillage arranged pergolawise. The objection to wood is 

 that if used in any thickness it has a heavy look, and if 

 made of light material it does not last long. There is 

 nothing like iron for lightness in effect, and durability. 

 Gas piping i J-inch in diameter is excellent for the standards 

 or pillars, and they can be kept in position at the top 

 by an iron rod J-inch in diameter, turned at each end so 

 as to hook into the upright pipes. These rods can be 

 either straight or curved to taste. Thus a number of iron 

 arches spanning the path are formed, and they can be 

 connected at the sides by fixing rods along the top of 

 the standards. The plants are trained on these so as to 

 form a series of arches, and there is no danger of a tangle 

 of shoots overhead ; moreover the plants can be easily 

 seen from the path, and they get room and the maximum 

 of light. There are two pergolas of this kind at Kew, 

 one near the rock garden, devoted to roses, another, near 

 the pagoda, on which a collection of hardy species of Vitis 

 and the Wistarias are trained. For the greater part of the 

 year these two pergolas are unattractive, one may say they 

 are downright ugly throughout the winter. Indeed I have 

 never seen a pergola in winter in this country that wasn't. 



C 



