Decorating Your a with Plants

Once you have your Toronto pergola installer, such as Sticks and Stones Landscape Construction put in your pergola, now the fun comes in. If your Pergola Installer Toronto did not do the finish touches to the pergola, one great way to decorate you pergola is to use plants.

Vines on your Pergola

One of the big questions you may be wondering about with your pergola is if you should be placing vines on it, which is a very good question.

Pros

The pros of placing vines on your pergola include:

• It will help your pergola look even more beautiful
• The vines will give you a filtered shade
• You are going to get an aroma from the vines
• The vines are going to attract butterflies and hummingbirds

Cons

The cons of placing vines on your pergola include:

• The vines can be messy and may drop leaves and debris on the ground
• You are going to have to sweep up the leaves and debris
• You are going to have to trim the vines from time to time
• The vines may attract bees, wasps and spiders
• The vine can be a good hiding spot for snakes and lizards
• The weight of vines can possibly cause structural damage
• The vines retain moisture and will promote wood rot

The Choice is Yours

Some people like clean lines of a plant-free pergola. Placing vines on your pergola is going to bring it to beautiful life. The plants are not only going to give you shade and privacy but they also offer color and a fragrance.

Pruning Vines Yearly

It is important to prune vines once each year in the fall. Pruning the vines will prevent them from getting too large, which can give too much weight to the structure. If you prune the vines, it will also deter birds and rodents from nesting in the thatch.

Shade

Besides the vines giving you shade, they will also help to cool off your pergola area. Plants evaporate moisture to cool themselves off and can actually cool a pergola area by as much as 15 degrees.

Top Vines for a Pergola

The following are popular vines that can be placed on your pergola to keep it looking beautiful and give you shade for many years to come:

• Bougainvillea: will gives you vibrant colors and is great for warmer climates
• Royal Trumpet Vine: lavender flowers
• Carolina Jessamine: evergreen vine with fragrant yellow blossoms; is toxic if ingested
• Passion Flower: large blue flowers
• Bower Vine: white to pink flowers and gives you a very clean look
• Chinese Jasmine: evergreen climber vine with fragrant pink/white flowers and is easy to maintain
• Wisteria: fragrant purple, blue and white flower blossoms with green and dense foliage which is very messy; seed pods can be toxic to dogs if ingested
• White Potato Vine: white flowers; very hardy and will bloom frequently in milder climates
• Alice Dupont: large pink flowers; not good for high wind areas
• Climbing Roses: many varieties of roses can easily be trained to grow up pergolas