If you can do it yourself, that's the way to go. Get a post hole digger, some treated lumber, a saw, some concrete, and you're good to go. The arbor below cost below 100 dollars in materials and took me a weekend to put up (all by myself).

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Same arbor covered in roses:
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Once you've done one, you can move on to other projects..cheap! This fence corner cost under $50 in materials. The equivalent PVC version was $250!
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Eric

Thanks Eric. I'm wondering if my DH would need a plan, lol. He's not the building type but maybe there's hope. That is a nice one. I would rather have a built one rather than buying.

Carla

It's a matter of trade-offs. Both have advantages!

I have both. There are some nice premades you can get but the larger stronger ones are more expensive and come close to home-made in cost.

Another factor to consider is the rose--if and your growing season allow it it completely envelope the arbor, you'll never see the structure itself, so looks become less relevant.

How long do you need the arbor to last? Here materials come into play--cedar or redwood last longer than pine.

Another factor--can you (or someone) handle and have access to a power saw? That substantially reduces the work/time involved.

Or do you know someone who can weld who could make it out of rebar? Rebar cheaper than quality wood.

Also keep in mind my point of view--my garden is large (for here) and my climbing roses get large, so what is substantial for me may be huge (or tiny) for your yard...

My experience: if it is cost alone, premades are cheaper unless you can scrounge wood somewhere for free (that might be a way to go) or your local wood suppliers are cheaper than they are here.

buy -- less expensive,
flimsier,
less work,
size/weight restricted to shipping maximums
smaller than what you can make

make -- more expensive (for good material),
stronger,
more substantial,
any size you want
more work (do you like DIY?)

Hey Carla,

I didn't have a plan either. Just put in four posts and kinda went from there, attached some boards across the front, back and sides, then put some boards across the top. A good think about DIY (and no plan :) is that it can be organic, you can change things as you go. My pergola is by no means perfect, but I knew it would be covered anyways.

Eric

Carla,
One thing I kept telling myself: "when the plants grow, nobody will be able to see this anyhow". So I just bought some treated lumber and started building. If I had it to do over, I would have made it wider. I think my arbor cost about $50.

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Something weird going on when I tried to post.
Hoov, DH sells welding equipment and I've been threatening to trade a welding helmet for a structure. I have some welding artist friends that I went to school with.
Eric, I'm pretty impressed with your building skills.
Harry, I already know of your talent, re: that dining table you made :-) Maybe I can inspire DH with these pics. I'm willing to bite the bullet and try to help him. You really don't see the structure when the roses mature.

Carla

Eric: I loved your arbor. So I clipped it and will build one myself as well. I loved its decoration too.
What is you appoximate dimensions? Height, width, depth? Do you wish you made it wider too, like Harry?

Harry: How wide do you wish your arbor was?

I like the home-made ones much better than ready-mades. I have no problem with seeing the structure. I think they are beautiful.

Thanks Eric and Harry for the pictures and details. DH has agreed to try to make one. On it will go Papi Delbard and another one.

Carla

I'm glad I inspired some people to build their own arbors. Mine is no means perfect (the front is narrower than the back), but the roses don't care.

Senko, I'll have measure the arbor, I have no clue on the dimensions :)

Eric

Eric: I'll be waiting for the approximate measurements. I am sorry that I cause trouble for you. But, your proportions are excellent and I am very particular about the proportions.
Thanks

I love seeing arbors which people have built.

Here is one my BIL and I built last summer. I think I have slightly more than $100 in it.

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and a store bought which had to be beefed up to be sturdy enough to hold the roses. (sorry I cropped out the mess in my potting shed when I loaded this photo in photobucket) This one I got on a big time sale for around $50.

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Kathy

Kathy, great arbor and love the hammock under a rose! Thanks for the photos. I haven't decided how close I will put a new one next to the old one, but I like the idea of an arbor big enough for a bench or something to sit on.

Carla

Another thing for people in Southern CA to remember (not necessarily the Original Poster)-- any wood structures which touch the ground are going to rot out. And it will only take a few years.
About the time the rose is really mature, the arbor will be trash.

Really beautiful, high-dollar wooden arbors that LAST usually have massive uprights. Something like 4 x 4's -- AND they are treated.
But for Heaven's sake, don't buy those cheap wooden arbors ready-made from every nursery and big-box store.

I DO like the metal arbors we've gotten from various sources, including one with a neat gate, for $99., from Harbor Freight.
I'm sure those have problems somewhere, but they do well here in SoCal.
We've also gotten some good ones from Big Lots.

Jeri

This post inspired me to make an arbor this past weekend! I thought with my husband's help, we could certainly do this without much money. We just bought (5) 10 foot pressure treated 2x4s and (3) 8 foot pieces of redwood (I think they were 1 3/4" square. I wanted it to be 18" deep and 5' long and it was 7' tall. I think it turned out really well. I am going to put in a seat, too, this next weekend. My husband works with copper a lot, so I am going to have him put copper cladding on the tops to protect somewhat from the elements. This arbor is actually for a grape vine on the left and a clematis on the right. However, there is a Reve d'Or on the other side of the fence that might want a piece, too!

Here are a couple pictures:
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pungentfall, yours is great and looks very sturdy too. When DH and I get ours done, I will post pics because that will be an accomplishment, especially working together with a saw and nails!
Thanks for the pictures.

Carla

I agree with hoovb 100%. I needed to replace a metal arbor from Harbor Freight that lasted 2 years. A substantial one would cost too much, so I built my own for less than $80. The metalwork came from Big Lots, the wood is cedar fence rails from Home Depot, a little more metal trim, stain, varnish, and decking screws from Lowe's. Also, rail/legs are in the ground about 18" with about 20lb of cement supporting each leg. Photo was taken in May 2007, Hagley Hybrid and General Sikorski had been in place one full year in 2007.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:235886}}

egrillo, You did a superb job, so nice looking. Is that metal work in between the end posts?

Carla

Hi Carla,

Sorry that the picture was so small that it doesn't display well. The metalwork began as two 6ft trellises that were mark downs at Big Lots, made from 3/16" steel. I cut about 15" off the bottom of the trellises (the part that would normally stick in the ground) so they could be framed with 8ft fence rails and still have about 15-18" below ground. Table saw to cut 1/4" grooves in the rails, then cut the four crosspieces so that the frame would fit with the trellises firmly in the grooves all around. Time involved in cutting and putting the two frames together was about 3 hrs, and a good bit of that was spent measuring to make sure everything would fit.

Gary