 Summer
sun can be as grueling as winter winds. With this thought in mind we
decided to erect an arbor on the north side of the front entrance. It
was with surprise we learned how great the benefits were to us. In the
winter the breaking of the wind made a decided difference in the comfort
of the interior of the house with resulting lowered heating bills.
The cement front patio which was at first
seemed a plus soon became a liability as to its holding the heat of the
summer sun. Sometimes, it would radiate so much heat the necessity was
to hose it down with a sprinkler to cool the front area. After the arbor
was put in place, the area became some pleasant surroundings to set
chairs of a retreat for evening relaxation or a lovely quiet place to
entertain guests when a light table and chairs are set there. The vista
off the front area is a gift in the way of calming environment.
There is a covering of wood lattice work
on the west side of the arbor which blocks the evening sun. The wood
lattice was spray painted with a hunter green color. However, I have
seen some lattice work painted white which gives a total different
effect. On this west side there are tame grape vines. The top of the
arbor is covered with a wild variety of grape vines. These are decidedly
more hardy and grow more rapidly. The only negative thing is the large
numbers of leaves to fall after frost. We keep an electric blower vac
with which we can just either blow the leaves off or put a bag on the
vac, picking up the leaves in order to use them for mulch.
The supports across the top are 2x6's
which give a decided strong support. They are spaced 24 inches across.
They are a treated wood to resist rotting from the rainy weather.
There is one other nice thing about the
arbor and this is the fact that it draws songbirds to it. The tiny
little wren with its strong melody has such a beautiful song. The
mockingbirds literally do warfare in order to claim their territory for
it. We have placed a small rock bird bath to the side of the arbor in
order to accommodate this little creatures. The bird bath is small and
must be attended to daily as to clean water in the summer months. |
