Pergola Ideas: Oak, Sweet Chestnut and Aluminium Compared

A pergola is the cheapest way to make a garden feel designed. It creates a room, frames a view, carries planting and lighting, and gives the eye something to measure the space against. The material you choose sets the character.

Green oak

Heavy, honest and traditional. Green oak is worked fresh, then dries and moves in place, developing checks and shakes that are part of its character. It silvers to grey over a few years and lasts for decades untreated. It suits period houses, brick and flint walls, and gardens where the structure should feel permanent. Expect tannin staining on light paving in the first year.

Hand-cut sweet chestnut

Our preference for a lighter, more rustic frame. Chestnut is naturally durable, moves less than oak and carries hand-cut joinery beautifully. On a recent Coulsdon garden room we ran a chestnut pergola down the side elevation, which softened the building and gave the climbers somewhere to go.

Powder-coated aluminium and louvred roofs

• Slim profiles, long clear spans and effectively no maintenance
• Adjustable louvres give shade on demand and full rain cover when closed
• Integrated LED lighting, heaters, side screens and blinds
• Best suited to contemporary architecture and to spaces used year-round

Planting a pergola

Wisteria for spring drama and a heavy frame to carry it, climbing roses with a clematis threaded through for a long season, or grape vine for dappled summer shade that drops in winter. Whatever you choose, wire the structure at the design stage - retro-fitted wires always look retro-fitted.