Choosing a gazebo

Perhaps not the most important, but the most pleasant moments of suburban life are associated with this small openwork structure. The gazebo, open from all sides to the fresh wind and light fog creeping from the pond, penetrated by the rays of the not yet scorching sun, will allow you to completely merge with the surrounding nature. Only she can add the scent of morning dew to your early tea. And how many words have been said about the gazebo by the lyricists! Standing in the back of the garden, she witnessed the first dates and declarations of love, she remembers how wishes were made in her at the time of the stargazing. The gazebo provides relaxation, shelter from the heat and short summer rain. Twisted with flowers, it has a truly magical attractive power.

The rotunda can be considered the elder sister of the gazebo. This small architectural structure with a domed roof, often decorated with columns, was an integral part of an 18th century noble estate. Then, in the 19th century, the country lifestyle became fashionable, which forced the monumental rotunda to turn from a place of solitude into a meeting place for new summer residents. Classic forms are a thing of the past. New lightweight openwork designs did not hide the fashionable outfits of ladies and gentlemen from prying eyes. The XX century initially patronized the gazebo, and then, tightening the screws of totalitarian regimes, transferred it to the rank of a simple canopy. And only by its end did we remember what the gazebo was before.

Of course, nowadays it is rare to find a large area with a park ensemble or a garden at its peak. A gazebo is an indispensable element of such a landscape. But even in a small young garden plot, the gazebo plays an important role. Located with a wise calculation, according to the rules of static movement, at first it will be the main dacha decoration, and then the grown trees and shrubs will hide it and turn it into a secluded corner where the owners will not be disturbed by prying eyes.

On the new site, the gazebo will become a favorite place for children to play, because only she will be able to give a piece of fertile shadow in the heat. And it’s easier to look after the kids while they’re in sight. And after several years, your grown children are unlikely to leave their favorite gazebo, closed from the intrusive glances of their parents with overgrown lilac bushes and entwined with flowers.

Making the dream of an ideal country house come true, few people can immediately say which gazebo will decorate the site. At first, any person directs all his imagination and all his funds to building a house and only then begins landscaping and landscaping. It is at this moment that the time comes to select small architectural forms. The question of what shape and of what material the gazebo will be is solved quite simply. It is unlikely that you will begin to build a low brick gazebo with a flat roof if your wooden house is torn upward with a light, airy tower. The best advisors, of course, will be a designer or an architect, but if you do not want to use their services, you will have to learn some basics. It is not as difficult as it seems, especially since you have a house construction behind you.

It is recommended to build a gazebo in the same style as the house. Even if you want originality, try to preserve the unity of the entire architectural ensemble, leaving at least some of the same design or decoration elements (in their shape or color scheme).

The gazebo can be built from almost any material: brick, monolithic concrete, natural and artificial stone, metal (rolled profile, cast, forged structures). But wood comes first. It is difficult to find a garden area that does not use this environmentally friendly, easy-to-work, natural and warm material. A wooden gazebo is almost universal: its shape can obey the requirements of any style. Modern protective materials and means of protection against decay will guarantee that a timber structure will stand for several decades.

By the end of construction, it may turn out that you have not built a gazebo, but something else. For example, garden barbecues that are fashionable these days, installed in the gazebo permanently, will automatically turn it into a summer kitchen. And in this case, you are unlikely to want to listen to nightingales at the evening dawn in an embrace with a brazier (both cold and hot).

Sometimes there is a desire to isolate oneself from loud music coming from the neighboring area, to protect oneself from the evening coolness or annoying mosquitoes. The gazebo is completely glazed, thus raising it to the rank of a pavilion. If the windows and doors are made removable at the same time, then on hot days the pavilion will again easily turn into a gazebo.

From the house to the gazebo, you can build a luxurious gallery by installing several trellises on both sides of the path and adding a “roof” of pergolas to them.

The path to the gazebo can be decorated with a colonnade carrying light pergolas on its shoulders. Perhaps the colonnade overgrown with climbing plants will lead you to the idea that you do not need a gazebo. Given the sufficient width and density of the green cover, the colonnade can be an excellent alternative, although it will hardly be a permanent resting place. It does not shelter well from the rain, and it gains decorativeness only at the peak of the season, when the plants are in full force..

The base of the gazebo can be of almost any shape: round, square, in the form of a polygon. But the roof is of three main types. The first type is the classic roof. It is made up of flat triangles that converge at their highest point in the center of the roof. This design is the easiest to manufacture. The second type is a domed roof, somewhat reminiscent of the dome of a church, crowned with a small spire. Such a roof is quite difficult to manufacture, but it looks much more attractive. In addition, in winter, snow practically does not linger on it, so the load on the entire structure is less. And the third type is the eastern roof, which resembles the roof of a pagoda. If you are an adherent of feng shui traditions, you will surely like a gazebo in this style.

For lovers of fundamental buildings, a gazebo made of natural stone is suitable. It is not at all necessary to order marble and granite columns from a special workshop. The pillars, made of semi-finished stone blocks, will give the gazebo an antique look in just a few years. Firstly, decorative mosses or even some types of ground cover can be placed in natural recesses, and secondly, climbing plants will easily cling to an untreated stone. In the heat in such a gazebo it will be cool, and on chilly evenings, on the contrary, the stone will give off the heat accumulated during the day.

Modern materials will allow you to save money when building a gazebo. The frame of the gazebo can be made of reinforced concrete, and the “stone-like” finish can be made of decorative concrete or artificial granite.

After the appearance of the gazebo has been determined and its location has been chosen, it is necessary to bring the foundation. For heavy structures made of stone and metal, it is better to make a monolithic base. The floor of the gazebo should be raised above ground level by at least 40 cm (in Russia, the winters are snowy and the consequences of spring snowmelt can be dire). Between the base of the wooden gazebo and the surface of the ground, it is necessary to leave sufficient space for ventilation, and the board parts should also in no case come into contact with the ground. As practice shows, the best foundation for a wooden arbor is a system of metal supports installed in a concrete base, buried in the ground. Fastenings are made with bolts. Such a foundation is strong, durable and makes it possible, without resorting to disassembling the entire gazebo, to repair or replace parts of the supporting frame.

For those who love change, a stationary gazebo is hardly suitable. They can be recommended lightweight mobile structures, assembled from trellises, with an awning roof. Such gazebos can be moved around the site several times per season and cleaned for the winter. However, not only wooden arbors can be collapsible. Metal, with an openwork pattern of thin rods and forged elements, the Art Nouveau gazebo will look like a light and beautiful cobweb spread among the trees of your garden.

If you do not want to bother with construction, and subsequently with repairs, we advise you to purchase prefabricated plastic arbors. They do not rot, do not get wet, do not require painting (washing with a hose is enough), do not need a capital foundation, they can be removed for the winter and re-installed in the spring.

Those for whom the functionality of things is primarily important can be advised to acquire a prefabricated gazebo tent. Such structures, assembled from tubes and covered with fabric, at the right time and in the right place will protect you from the sun, rain and wind. You can take the gazebo tent with you, leaving not only to the dacha, but also for fishing or a picnic: when disassembled, they even fit into a backpack.

Prefabricated gazebos made of frames covered with a very fine mesh can isolate you from annoying mosquitoes. The disadvantage of this design is the small area. Yes, and you feel in such a gazebo, as in a cage.

But nature itself gives creative people the opportunity to do something original. You can, for example, create a wicker gazebo – from willow twigs. This does not require investment and almost everyone can do it: you only need hands and imagination. Empty glass bottles and a couple of bags of cement are all you need to create a crystal gazebo – to the envy of your neighbors. And for children (for example, for a birthday), you can assemble a gazebo from balloons: you only need a strong frame made of wooden poles so that the building is not blown away by the wind, and the holiday will be guaranteed.