Arches, Arbours & Tunnels

Define a walkway, frame a seating area or enhance a garden gate with a solid steel arch or tunnel.  Make a focal point of an arbour. We make solid steel arches and tunnels in standard sizes and also offer a bespoke service - to any height, width and depth. Made in a single piece, in some instances, eg where access is restricted, they are then cut in two and joined at the apex with two bolted plates. We deliver tunnels in three sections - two vertical side walls and a curved roof section. Every arch and tunnel is made to measure to fit the garden space exactly. Please take a look at this form to provide the information required.

Lesley Ann's Tip

“Use an arch to divide rooms in the garden. You can use almost any plant that can be tied in to the arch as it grows: roses, clematis, apples or pears. Why not train laburnums over a tunnel as Rosemary Verey famously did at Barnsley? Or use them as the framework for an elegant opening in a hedge, gradually clipping the yew or hornbeam round the curve of the arch.”

FAQs

How do you secure a garden arch in the ground?

The legs at the base of our arches are 40cm (16in) long, and pushing them a minimum of 20–25cm (8–10in) into the ground is mostly enough to hold the structure firmly although we recommend pushing the arch in up to the first rung to make it level and stable. In loose soil or where extra security is needed, we recommend fixing the feet in Postcrete, an easy-to-use form of concrete that sets in 5–10 minutes.

What is an arch in the garden called?

These garden structures all have a family resemblance. An arch is the simplest, and just what its name implies. Ours come as single (30cm/1ft deep) or double (60cm/2ft deep). Adapt a deep arch to shelter a seat and you have an arbour (as its name suggests, the original shelter would have been a tree). A pergola takes the idea one step further, supporting a living canopy of green broad and deep enough to accommodate anything from a tea table and a couple of deckchairs to a full-sized dining table. Alternatively, a pergola can span a walkway to create a feature similar to a plant tunnel but more open. All are great additions to a garden.

Where should a garden arch be placed?

Lots of scope here. Arches invite you to pass under them or to sit beneath them. We have made arches to frame doors and gates, to go over garden seats, to create a link between one part of a garden and another. An arch can be incorporated into a run of hedge or wall, or it makes a very pleasing standalone feature, giving height and interest to an otherwise flat area. These roles all call for single arches, but you could also use a series of arches to create the effect of a tunnel or pergola – maybe even recreate something similar to Rosemary Verey’s iconic laburnum tunnel!

What material is best for a garden arch?

Typically, a garden arch is asked to support quite a weight. A mature rose or honeysuckle is especially heavy, but any climber, once it is large enough to cover an arch, will put a strain on its support. Flimsy plastic or bamboo will never cut the mustard, and although wood and tubular steel may be satisfactory for a number of years, they will buckle or break in time. Particularly if they have been bolted together in sections! You then face the problem of attempting to replace the support without damaging or killing the plants. This is why we choose to make all our arches and tunnels of solid mild steel, which has the strength to last a lifetime.

How do you train roses over an arch?

By nature, climbing roses will shoot straight upwards and then flower at the top, leaving a lot of usually uninteresting leggy stems. To avoid this, encourage them to grow in a series of horizontals, so that flowering starts much lower down and the arch is more fully dressed. I’ve described how this is done in more detail, with lots of further tips, here. When deciding on the dimensions of your arch, remember to take into account the roses’ bushiness once they are established, which will reduce both the width and height under the arch.

Looking for something else?

Head back to view all of our collections to see if we can get the right product for your garden.

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