5 cozy pergola ideas for the ultimate summer hangout

1. Build your pergola with recycled materials

A pergola furnished with recycled items is this family’s favorite spot on hot days and on evenings, when they grill sausages in the pergola. The pergola floor is paved with 600 bricks salvaged from a demolished house.

2. A white-painted pergola shines amidst the greenery

This white-painted pergola always looks fresh and stands out well even in dim light. The pergola’s graphic shapes add vertical accents to the garden. Vines grow around the pergola. On the side wall climbs the grapevine ‘Zilga’; on the back wall grows sweet honeysuckle.

3. An apple tree forms an airy ceiling

This pergola built on a wooden deck creates a cozy garden room. On the flat surface, garden furniture stays stable and is easy to move. Together, the pergola and the apple tree growing through the deck form an airy ceiling that doesn’t block the sun’s rays.

Take a peek into gardener Chatarina Munck’s fairytale-like garden, adorned with a pergola built by her spouse.

4. Climbing plants protect the pergola

A pergola designed for relaxation is more sheltered, and therefore more usable, if at least one of its sides has a wall that protects from wind and rain. This garden is adorned with a lounging pergola that is a popular spot in the summer. The pergola is covered with Virginia creeper, making it pleasantly shady.

5. For peaceful summer dining

This terrace-like pergola is a perfect spot to admire the peonies and observe the life in the nearby garden pond.

+ Or perhaps you would prefer a pergola walkway?

This gracefully curving pergola walkway leads visitors from one garden space to another. Climbing perennials suitable for covering pergola posts include bittersweet, grapevines, and clematis. If you want variety, plant some annual flowering climbers in the mix.