Pergola ideas – 19 ways a pergola can enhance your backyard design

Whether to provide shade, zone a garden, or offer privacy, pergola ideas can be a crucial element in your backyard's design.

They can also be used to frame pathways, or create structure. Considering the purpose of the pergola is crucial to the design that you choose. Will it be a focal point, or a transition? Will there be seating under it? Ideally it should create its own statement with lower lying plants on either side.

Directing the eye upwards by providing interest on the vertical plane is also important to include in your backyard landscaping ideas, and pergolas are ideal for training a wide variety of scented, flowering climbing plants and creeping vines over for vertical garden ideas.

Find inspiration and advice for including many different pergola ideas in your backyard and to suit your specific needs.

Pergola ideas to add interest to your yard

'A pergola should be integral to the layout of the garden, instead of an afterthought. Carefully considering views to and from a pergola are key to enabling it to feel connected to the garden,’ explains garden designer Harriet Farlam of Farlam & Chandler .

With many shapes, sizes and styles a pergola can take, keep in mind its chosen purpose. This may be to lead you somewhere, form a focal point, or create a sense of division by adding a layer that isn’t a solid boundary.

Pergolas ideas can work in any size of backyard, from large country plots to boosting smaller patio ideas. Create an impressive focal point and help define an area in your backyard with these ideas.

1. Install a bioclimatic pergola that adapts to the weather

If you are wondering 'how do I add luxury to my backyard?' then a pergola can elevate the space into a stylish and luxurious outdoor living area.

A bioclimatic pergola, which has folding and motorized blades that adapt to the weather conditions, complete with lighting and comfortable furniture, will make an outdoor dining or seating area more usable and more luxurious to a backyard, explains garden designer Kate Gould.

A bespoke design will create a unique space and design statement, and there are many pergola roof ideas to choose from so that you can enjoy this outdoor room year round.

2. Fit a flexible pergola roof for shade when needed

For the ultimate in flexibility, in some instances you might require pergola shade ideas during the hottest or sunniest part of the day, while at other times prefer light to flood into the patio or seating area, such as in the evening to make the most of the last of the sun's rays.

In this case, a louvered pergola roof, or retractable canopy, offer the flexibility to control the amount of sunshine or shade falling on the area throughout the day and at different times of the year. Working either on motorized or rope pulley systems, there are numerous styles and options available to suit various backyard styles.

As well as providing protection from the sun, pergolas can provide shelter from wind and rain – particularly useful if you live in an area where the weather is a little less predictable.

'We often hear talk of the garden as an "outdoor room" but rooms have ceilings, so creating the sense of a ceiling by having a more complete outline of a room, makes a real difference to the feel of the space. With plant cover and panels or trellises a pergola can also provide shelter from the breeze,' explains designer Barry Chambers.

‘The canopy should be well located with good circulation if it is to be used year round,’ suggests Harriet Farlam.

A roof is also a great solution for pergola privacy.

3. Use a pitched pergola roof for privacy

Pergolas can be used in outside areas large or small, including as balcony garden ideas or as roof garden ideas. However, one of the most important roles they can play, particularly in an urban setting, is as one of your garden screening ideas.

A flat pergola roof will work, but a pitched roof can create more height beneath, be less intrusive from below, and will add shapely architecture to your backyard.

'The overhead canopy, whether this is covered in the best flowering climbers or a simple timber slatted surface, can be useful in providing privacy from neighboring properties; particularly in city or town gardens,' explains Harriet Farlam. It can also offer cover from sun, wind or rain if you want to enjoy beautiful scenic views from an elevated spot in a country garden setting

Hanging a string of simple bulb lights from the structure will add light to the space to extend its use into the evening.

4. Frame a view with a pergola

Choosing the best place for your pergola can help to draw your eye to specific areas of your garden, yard art ideas, or even frame the view of the surrounding landscape, as with the design above by Bowles & Wyer.

You can also play a clever trick on the eye as a small garden idea and make the space feel larger by designing the pergola so that it gradually gets narrower the further away it goes. This creates a false perspective that makes the garden feels bigger than it really is.

5. Design a pergola that is the right size for the space

Size matters when planning how to design a pergola.

'Make sure it won’t overwhelm the garden but that it will also be large enough to be practical,’ advises garden designer John Wyer of Bowles & Wyer.

Covered in some of the best climbing plants, this wooden pergola creates a shaded and fragrant walkway around the edge of a circular terrace area.

A common mistake is to make a pergola too narrow and too low. ‘The size and dimensions of the uprights and overall frame will need to be considered carefully as the size of these really alter the feel of the pergola,’ explains landscape designer Fi Boyle.

'It needs to be proportionally correct so that it does not over-dominate the space,’ she adds.

6. Pick the perfect position for a pergola 

The best place for a pergola will depend on the layout of your backyard and your reasons for including pergola ideas in your garden.

The clean lines of this modern design by Matt Keighley at Rosebank Landscaping perfectly complements the sleek, contemporary design of the garden for this townhouse.

Placement of a pergola is key, 'so that is does not block the flow of a garden,' explains Fi Boyle.

‘Pergolas are often places to retreat to, so site them somewhere you will enjoy sitting and where it will not be detrimental to neighbor’s views,’ adds garden designer Kate Gould.

'Planning areas of shade is an important consideration when designing a sunny garden, and a pergola is the perfect way to create a semi-shaded area which remains in-keeping with the rest of the design,' adds John Wyer.

7. Design your pergola with a purpose in mind

Pergola ideas can work well as both patio cover ideas in sunny spots, or placed in shady spots, depending what time of day you will use it the most.

‘If you have a south-facing garden, a partially enclosed pergola can create a tranquil retreat and offer respite on a hot summer’s day,’ says garden designer Katrina Kieffer-Wells.

It is important to get the proportions right. ‘Consider what you want to do under the pergola and make sure you have enough space. Measure any furniture for an outdoor seating idea you are planning to place within the structure and ensure that you allow enough room for people to move around comfortably.’

8. Make an outdoor kitchen area under cover

Although the dream of cooking outdoors on sunny days is appealing, it’s much more practical and comfortable to use pergola ideas for offering shade in an outdoor kitchen space.

‘If your garden doesn’t have a covered spot that offers protection from the sun, you can create a shaded pergola, or grow wisteria and vines up your pergola to provide beautiful dappled light and relief from the heat,’ says Wayne Cocker, director of South Hams Fencing and Landscaping.

‘Or for more consistent shade, sail type screens can be attached to the underside of the pergola roof,’ adds Fi Boyle.

9. Use a pergola to zone your backyard

The use of pergola ideas for garden zoning is multifold.

‘Pergolas can be used to transition from a patio area to the lawn,’ suggests garden designer Ali Paterson, providing a view through to the garden beyond.

Placed over a dining area, a pergola can create a feeling of privacy and separation.

As structures, pergolas can create a sense of division but without creating a blunt delineation of the space. 'They can be used together with planting to screen something beyond and bring the eye back into the garden. Or they could be used as a series of arches to frame a path way,' says Fi Boyle.

They can also link the house with the backyard as a garden wall idea. ‘Sometimes a straight wall can look a little severe, but a pergola helps ground the building,’ explains John Wyer.

10. Design a scented walkway with a pretty pergola

Garden designer and consultant Rebecca Smith recommends a pergola that arches over a path through the garden to create a shaded and scented tunnel.

You can create a sense of romance with where you choose to place your pergola ideas, and clothe the structure in fast growing flowering vines or evergreen climbers for an added dimension.

‘In a long garden, a pergola placed at the end of the space can create a destination for different times of day, and can also help screen a garage or garden shed,’ she says.

11. Build a traditional wooden pergola

Timber is the most commonly used material for pergolas – western red cedar, iroko and oak are all popular choices right now.

Although it is possible to lay a patio yourself, whatever material you choose for your pergola ideas, it’s crucial that your pergola is specified and built by a professional. It will have to withstand the weather and the weight of the plants – so factor professional pergola instillation into your overall patio costs.

When considering what material it will be made of think about how it will be fixed to the ground so that longevity is ensured.

'If you're using timber posts, it is best to use a steel shoe, otherwise the post will tend to rot at soil level. If you're going for the arts and crafts look, try using brick columns with timber beams, although I would suggest running some steel reinforcement up the centre of the brickwork,' suggests John Wyer.

12. Choose a more contemporary pergola design

‘Sometimes we use metal or even charred oak if we are going for a slight more contemporary feel,’ says Charlotte Rowe.

Simple steel structures can be very effective, such as this contemporary pergola idea by David Loy of Your Garden Design.

'You can achieve a more modern look with a wooden pergola by squaring up the ends and corner. Or it could be constructed out of metal to give it a clean modern feel,' explains Fi Boyle.

Corten steel will weather to develop a beautiful deep orange rusty patina, or powder coated or paint metal will create a more slick look.

13. Set up a secluded spot for al fresco dining

When designing a patio and pergola area for dining, consider building it out from an exterior wall to maximize the feeling of flow.

'Setting the back of a pergola against a hedge or border is a nice way to make the space feel enclosed from the rear and this could be extended part way or all the way down the sides,' suggests Fi Boyle.

‘Cantilevering a pergola over an outdoor kitchen looks lovely, and with supports only on one side allows for freer movement around and underneath it,’ says Kate Gould. This creates more space for a variety of patio furniture ideas under your pergola.

A pergola in a dining area can make a cozy night-time feature with the addition of the right ambient patio lighting ideas and hanging drapes.

‘Hanging a simple pendant from the pergola will bring light to extend the use of the space into the evening,’ suggests Harriet Farlam.

14. Dress a pergola with wisteria 

Wisterias and pergola ideas are a match made in heaven. The wisteria family has around ten species; favorites are Wisteria sinensis and Wisteria floribunda. They are deciduous, with sweetly-scented flowers in shades of white, purple, blue or pink.

It is easy to learn how to grow wisteria. Wisterias need sufficient sunlight to flower well – not less than six hours a day – and grow best in a south or west-facing position. Once established, wisterias are vigorous, but can take a few years to get going.

'Wisteria is great for pergola ideas, because it is robust, long lived and produces lots of scented blossom,' explains John Wyer.

A pergola has to be sturdy to take the weight of a mature wisteria. The final result is simply beautiful though – a froth of pure white flowers and fern-like foliage that looks stunning in quite dense shade.

15. Indulge in poolside shade with a well-placed pergola

Incorporate a pergola into your pool ideas to create the perfect place for poolside lounging. Drape your pergola with grape vines for dappled sunlight and a truly tropical feel.

Alternatively, take inspiration from Mediterranean garden ideas and plant fragrant flowers like jasmine and lavender – as their perfumes are released, they’ll conjure up happy memories of sun-drenched escapes.

'However, it may be a very modern space with a clean minimal feel to it in which case surrounding it by planting may not be so appropriate,' says Fi Boyle. There are many pool shade ideas you can use in your design, from a permanent pergola, to temporary pergola canopies.

16. Make a small garden feel larger with a pergola

'In small backyards, courtyard gardens, or small areas of larger backyards, a pergola makes the space feel much bigger without detracting from the usable area, especially if the pergolas legs, or some of them, are sat on a wall or in containers or a border.' explains Barry Chambers.

A pergola creates more height, which gives the illusion of a bigger space and a subtle extra layer to the outdoor space.

It also 'provides an opportunity for a small border or even containers to make a bigger statement, with climbing plants creeping up over the pergola, adds Barry.

17. Train climbing plants up a pergola

In a more traditional setting, adorn a pergola with some of the best flowering climbers for additional screening and a more natural aesthetic.

In this beautiful garden design by Jo Thompson, the traditional wooden pergola creates a slightly separate garden space for a guest room, surrounded by fragrant roses.

'I have planted roses and clematis carefully selected to give color through as much of the season as possible – starting with the early alpinas and ending with the viticellas. A range of roses are used again to give an extension of color for as long as possible – including 'Madame Alfred Carrière', Rosa banksiae var. banksiae and Rosa 'Albertine',' Jo explains.

‘Training wires up the posts can help twining plants establish more quickly. If you're planting in paving, make sure the climbers have plenty of space to root into,’ explains John Wyer.

The supporting wires may need to be considered within the design both on the horizontals and verticals.

For choices in plants, ‘wisteria is robust, long lived and produces scented blossom; Akebia quinata, or chocolate vine, has scented purple flowers and five-part palmate leaves; or try perennials Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’, golden hop, or flame nasturtium Tropaeolum speciosum,’ suggests John Wyer.

‘In the long term, many climbing plants can get very big,’ adds Barry Chambers. Consider less vigorous varieties so there is less need for pruning in the future. ‘A deciduous plant, such as Jasmine officinale, will also allow a lot more light through in winter, which may be preferable,’ he adds.

18. Add vertical interest with pergola ideas

Pergola ideas undeniably bring vertical interest to a garden.

‘The style of the garden will dictate the most appropriate style and whether you want to set it within planting,’ explains Fi Boyle.

‘Often we plant trees around a pergola to help anchor it into the garden. A tall row of pleached trees or a multi-stem tree positioned either side will bring a softness to the structure,’ explains Harriet Farlam. Try surrounding with trees to espalier or trellis ideas to add vertical planting interest.

Take into account, too, the additional space required by surrounding planting. ‘You should anticipate the bulk of mature climbers, whether this be climbing roses or winter jasmine, which might need two to three feet clearance underneath,’ explains Ali Paterson.

19. Instal a swing seat in a pergola

In a quiet corner of this bucolic country garden a delightful haven has been created to sit and watch the roses grow with this pergola idea built to accommodate a swing bench – which is particularly suited to a cottage backyard idea.

'The gentle rocking can have a wonderfully calming and peaceful effect, and is popular with all ages, from small children to grannies,' explains the designer Ali Paterson.

'A rambling rose was trained over the top of the pergola to add delicious scent to the area in summer,' Ali adds.

FAQs

Perfect if you are designing an entertaining garden, pergola ideas can be the perfect opportunity to add structure, interest, support for planting and opportunities for shade and shelter. Check out our expert list of pergola lighting ideas to brighten up your outdoor space.