Today we just lost an hour. You can think of this in one of two ways. Either you’re now late for something or you’re now one hour closer to spring when you can run outside and dig in the dirt and plant flowers and build something marvellous like a pergola.

Ancient Romans first coined the term pergola to identify an eave that projected out from a house’s roofline. We modern gardeners are free to interpret ‘pergola’ any which way we want from tiny sun-filtering shelter to promenade-vaulting edifice. If you’re pondering one for your garden, check out these inspirations to get your pergola plans percolating.

Pergolas make big statements without the bulk

The difference between a gazebo and a pergola isn’t much, really, unless it’s raining. A pergola’s overhead structure is open, not enclosed like the solid roof of a gazebo. That fundamental difference, though, makes it particularly versatile in the garden whether you’re looking to add fun or formality. Pergolas can demarcate a walkway, support tons (almost literally) of climbing plants or direct the eye to whatever you want to highlight and regardless of their size or length, pergolas have a visual lightness to them that’s hard to beat. They can break up a large space with structural interest and yet their openness doesn’t close off views to the sides or upwards. Their laciness invites in breezes and sunshine even when they’re also supporting vines and climbers.

Two views, above and below, of two large pergolas framing a rose garden and walkway at a private home outside Toronto, Ontario.

Pergolas make the easiest of outdoor ‘rooms’

When you want a special area for dining, sitting, meditating, cooking, whatever, even the simplest pergola design, like the one shown below, can both delineate the space and bring on the drama.

Above: Two views of a pergola accenting an outdoor dining area in a garden in urban Toronto.

And, because the ‘roof’ is completely open, a pergola is ideal for places that happen to be north-facing and/or in a very shady spot.

Pergolas put the focus on a focal point

A large pergola supporting grapevines at an entrance to the vegetable garden at Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ontario.

Pergolas are great multi-taskers. They can support climbing plants, provide dappled shade and designate a spot for a special purpose. But they’re also great when you want to make a grand gesture as well. Heralding an entrance and funnelling the view, leading you with theatrical effect to another part of the garden, are two things a pergola can do magnificently.

Pergolas don’t need to follow rules

A unique pergola with vine-covered support poles at Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, B.C.

I’m sure there are purists out there who will insist that a pergola has to be made out of a single type of material or that it has to follow a certain style. I’m here to tell you to ignore all that. All you really need to be concerned about is that whatever your uprights are made of they can support your overhead structure for a long, long time. The overhead structure, meanwhile, has to be open. Otherwise you’ve accidentally got yourself a gazebo.

Pergolas don’t have to be big or expensive

A rustic pergola made of found wood at a private home north of Toronto, Ontario.

Size does not matter when it comes to pergolas. The more important thing is that it serves the purpose you need it to serve. Structural integrity is important, too (as stated above). But fancy is not a requisite.

This small circular gazebo shown at the now defunct Canada Blooms exhibition, used pieces from recycled wood pallets for the walls and domed roof.

Pergolas give you privacy

Intimate seating in the back of a garden of a B’n’B in Goderich, Ontario.

Despite their openness, pergolas offer a lovely sense of privacy. This can be put to particularly good use in an urban garden where space is at a premium. The pergola shown above was built right up against a back fence shared by the neighbours. Yes, you could hear the neighbour’s dog snuffling around just beyond the pickets but the dog could probably hear our chuckles as well.