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Greenhouses & Garden Structures

Arbor vs. Pergola...what's the difference?

14 years ago

Hi, I'm pretty new to this forum and I want to build a structure that will support plants and I can put a dining area under, ideally for a 3' x 5' table. I'm guessing it would need to be 8' x 10' or 10' x 12'?

Would this be an arbor or a pergola? I've seen arbor, when you think of planting grapes and pergola seems to be larger, maybe with wisteria. I'm hoping to sound a little more informed before I talk to contractors about costs, etc.

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Comments (2)

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
An arbor originally meant a little niche or recess and someone decided to call a small structure that holds a vine or two an arbor.

A pergola in architecture has horizontal cross-members to hold latticework or similar and is supported by columns. So a pergola implies larger scale.

So for your size requirements, regardless of the term you choose to think about, you will be having horizontal beams either holding up latticework or open to the sky and if a professional looks at it, they will call it a pergola.

HTH.

Dan
lavender_lass
Original Author
14 years ago
Dan- Thank you :)
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