High Quality Pergolas in Ware
Plants for the pergola
Pergolas that have been made from timber, with uprights and crossbeams and laterals at the top, form the perfect open-topped canopy for any outdoor area or walkway. They are great for entrances, or to separate different levels or themed areas, but as standalone structures they may look a little stark. Soften up the pergola with the thoughtful addition of some climbing plants or vines.
When planted with vigorous, flowering climbers, the pergola makes a very attractive structure in any garden, offering height, shade and an abundance of colour.
Suitable plants for a pergola
The climbing rose will always be a good choice for a pergola. These roses are very well-suited to pergola growth as their long and flexible stems are very easy to train up and over the pergola.
Clematis are another great choice as they require little or no pruning, and other strong climbers such as honeysuckle are also a good choice, not just because of their climbing ability, but because they look great, smell amazing and attract bees to the garden.
Training climbers on a pergola
With the larger and sturdier pergolas, it is quite acceptable to plant two climbers near the base of each pillar. So different types of Honeysuckle can be planted and these will eventually merge, or a climbing rose with a clematis can also work very well together. The rose will provide much needed support for the weaker climbing plant. Some of the more strong-growing climbers such as Clematis Montana or wisteria will eventually cover the beams of the pergola and will need to be thinned out periodically.
Always ensure that you have good quality, nourished soil at the base of the upright by forking in some good, rich garden compost. Remember that like potted plants, the soil will lose nutrients over time, so plant food and good compost is a must to keep the soil in tip top condition for your climbers. Thoroughly water your climbers in. Cut back any weak stems to within ten or fifteen centimetres of the ground to encourage new shoots from the base of the plant.
When planting any climbing plant, always angle the plant towards the pergola, using small canes if necessary to bridge the gap. Secure vertical wires or wire mesh up the pillar and loosely and gently tie in shoots to these as they grow. To cover the canopy quickly, train the shoots straight up the posts. Or, for flowering on the pillars, spiral the shoots around the posts. Continue to tie new shoots to the crossbeams and laterals until the pergola is well covered. Cut back overlong shoots to prevent the pergola from looking unkempt and messy.
Keeping on top of climber growth on the pergola
The upright pillars of the pergola may become bare at the base. To help stop this from happening, spiral any new shoots around the post rather than allowing them to go straight up. If there is no new growth to tie in, cut back one or two of the main stems in early spring to stimulate growth at the base once more.
Plants that become unruly or overgrown on pergolas should be tended and pruned back in the early spring, this gives them time to recover and promotes growth throughout the summer growing season.
Climbers that become dry at the roots will be at particular risk to mildew, this particularly applies to honeysuckle and clematis. Keep these young plants well-watered during the summer, and add quality compost to the established plants every spring.
Some evergreen climbers, particularly those that have large leaves, can be adversely affected by drying winds. These types of climbing plants should be avoided if the pergola is in an exposed position.
High Quality
Supplied & Fitted
Full Support
Excellent Value
High Quality
Supplied & Fitted
Full Support
Excellent Value
Get a FREE quote
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Historic buildings in Ware
Ware has more than two hundred listed buildings, including fourteen grade II and three grade I, one of which is the remains of a fourteenth-century friary. This particular building now forms the offices of Ware Town Council and a conference, wedding and function venue called Ware Priory and Fletcher’s Lea. Recent restoration work has shown that it dates from the thirteenth century. Opposite the priory is the large fourteenth-century parish church of St. Mary. It is known for its elaborate font with large carved stone figures. The town is also famous for its many 18th-century riverside gazebos, several of which have been restored recently.
Ware is also known for the Great Bed of Ware, which is mentioned in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night and is reputedly able to accommodate at least four couples. It is usually stored in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, but from April 2012 until April 2013 it was loaned to the museum in Ware.
Ware is also mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and was also the unintended destination of John Gilpin in William Cowper’s comic poem.
Some of the buildings along the Ware High Street date back to the 14th century. Ware used to have lots of coaching inns and passageways between some shops still lead to where their stables would have been. The reason Ware had so many inns was because of the huge trade between London and the south east of England. It should be remembered that Ware was on Ermine Street, the major trading road from London. Many of these passageways also have former maltings.
Today Ware had a primary employer, and this is GlaxoSmithKline which has large manufacturing and research plants in Ware. The Ware Company was formerly Allen & Hanburys and has a long connection with the town, with many historical items on view in a section on the company in the Ware Museum. There are also many other small factories.
Ware is a sought after commuter town
Ware is also a very popular commuting town for London, with regular train services between Ware railway station and London Liverpool Street.
The folk rock band Fairport Convention’s 1971 album “Babbacombe” Lee was inspired by an old newspaper story that fiddle player Dave Swarbrick bought in an antiques shop in the High Street of Ware when the band lived at The Angel former public house in nearby Little Hadham.
Ware legends
Two Ware legends from the 17th century are often told. One is that bargemen who were born in Ware were automatically given the freedom of the River Thames, thus avoiding the requirement of paying lock dues. This privilege apparently came about as a direct result of their much valued and vital work of transporting fresh water and food during the great plague of 1665–66. In fact, Ware barges were freed from having to carry a pilot in the Port of London as a result of their relieving the Dutch blockade of the Thames in 1667, by bringing in coal brought overland from the Wash. Another legend is that Ware bargemen brought plague bodies out of London in 1666 and interred them at the Buryfield. The truth is that the Burymead was mentioned as early as 1513 and referred to the present Glaxo site where a number of Roman cemeteries have been found; the Buryfield Recreation Ground was established in 1931 on charity land.