Arch Provides Inviting Entrance

A gateway festooned with a rose bower or trumpet vine is one of the prettiest spectacles in the garden. The domain beyond it is made all the more private - and inviting - by such an arc de triomphe.

Arches and arbors not only mark the entrance of a garden, they can be used to subdivide outdoor spaces and give form to an otherwise-shapeless yard.

Now is the time to install or to build a gateway. The soil is soft enough to dig, and climbing plants are ready to go into the ground.

Stop by your favorite nursery or wander into a new one while driving through the countryside. You will find a surprising diversity of structures. Some will look as if they were handmade by a local hobbyist; others will be as finished as indoor furniture.

Typically, store-bought arches can range from just under $200 to $1,000, depending on the material used, which may be white vinyl, cedar, redwood or wrought iron. The structures are easily installed: Metal post supports usually come with the package. Alternatively, the posts can be buried in the ground, set in concrete footings.

Building a gateway need not take more than a weekend. The simplest design consists of two upright poles. The horizontal piece needs to be notched to fit into the posts.

Building two such arches, placing them three feet or so apart and then cladding them in lattice gives greater stability and a larger showcase for the vine. While the architect stands back to admire the arch, the gardener imagines it smothered in a huge plant.

There is no better way to display a vigorous vine such as wisteria, clematis, trumpet vine or a cultivated honeysuckle. Smart gardeners plant one seedling on either side, preferably of contrasting colors. Rose-lovers may do the same. Plant the vine as soon as the structure is completed - but not before.

Garden boots and infant vines do not mix. Clematis requires a thorough preparation of the soil, and it takes up to five years to really get going.

Wisteria needs less soil preparation and may reach the top in two years but take several more years to bloom. Trumpet vine needs the least-prepared ground and grows the fastest. It blooms all summer, and the trumpet-shaped flowers are famous for attracting hummingbirds.

As with wisteria, trumpet vine must be cut back each year. Both are indestructible and self-seed prodigiously.

While you decide which climber to plant, the annual morning glory is terrific as a stopgap measure or a permanent alternative. Its seeds must be soaked overnight in tepid water before planting. Blooms of mixed colors are more effective than monochromatic varieties.

A gate overflowing with a rambunctious climber is more than what landscape architects call a focal point. It gives a hero’s welcome to those who enter the garden.