Timber-frame garden architecture can provide the perfect solution for landscape challenges like these. A pergola or an arbor can instantly transform a barren building site into a pleasing arrangement of outdoor rooms and sheltered garden paths. Small, open, timber structures can be used to create outdoor rooms to protect hot tubs, picnic tables and play areas.

The term pergola is not often used today and is sometimes thought to be simply another word for arbor. "Not so," says Gail Steger, a member of the American Association of Landscape Architects. "An arbor is a type of protal one would pass through or walk under. It has upright supports and an overhead element, generally the width of a walkway. A pergola is a free-standing larger unit, large enough for several people to gather under."

Elaborate portals, colonnades and pergolas fashioned from heavy timbers have adorned gardens in Europe and Asia for thousands of years but garden architecture did not become popular in North America until the early years of the 20th century. The Arts and Crafts movement, a major influence on domestic design at the turn of the century, introduced pergolas and garden rooms to the American public.

From Southern California to British Columbia, landscape features like arbors, pergolas and small garden shelters became important elements of the whole house design. As the Arts and Crafts movement spread across the country so did the interest in garden architectures. Some older neighborhoods still display such a riotous growth of flowering vines and shrubs that the houses themselves seem to burst into bloom every spring.

Outdoor Environment

There have been a few changes in the domestic environment during the past century that are worth noting because of their influence on landscape design. In earlier years a carriage house and other outbuildings set apart from the main dwelling created opportunities for courtyard gardens that were sheltered by the exterior walls of adjcent buildings. Today, the house and garage are usually connected.

Clusters of new single-family houses in suburban developments are frequently located along winding streets or in cul-de-sacs. Such places can feel barren until young trees and shrubs mature. Imagine a new development complemented by vine-covered pergolas that create privacy screens between houses and graceful arbors that shelter common pathways. Designs for garden architecture can be simple or decorative, classic or modern.

Their supporting columns can be made of timbers, stone, concrete or brick. No matter how they are constructed, garden structures are always a useful vertical element in a new landscape where trees are not yet established.

A garden structure is the perfect way to hide an unsightly view from your house. Some new houses built in rural areas inherit a neighborhood that may include a view of an old dairy barn to the east, nice; and a graveyard of abandoned vehicles to the west, not so nice. One solution to this problem is to eliminate all the window on the "junk yard" side of the house. Instead, why not install a garden structure in a location where it will block the unwanted view? Plant a hedgerow behind it, and in time, you will have a charming outdoor sitting room at the edge of your garden.

When you desing your house be sure to consider all the transition areas. An abrupt trasition from inside to outside can feel awkward. In contrast, entering or leaving a building through a passage that offers both shelter and visual connection to the outdoors is amuch more comfortable experience.