The previous owners used unpeeled saplings as cross pieces in the arbour to support the vines. It looked rustic but unfortunately, they rotted from the inside out. You couldn't tell that they were weakening until you found broken pieces on the ground. I was afraid the vines would break from the weight of the grapes and not enough support to hold them up. Barry changed them all to 2x2s. As he removed the saplings you could see that only the bark was holding them together.
Here you can see one of the vines being held up by the new cross pieces.
Barry added a peak to the entrance of the arbour leading from the herb garden. That way I can reach the herb garden through the arbour without having to dodge bunches of grapes. Last year, not realizing the problems ahead and keeping with the rustic look of the arbour, we used unpeeled saplings as horizontal supports for the new grapes my son planted. Now that we know that they will not last, we will replace them before too many vines are using them for support.
This is the other entrance from between the two sheds that leads through the arbour to the herb garden.
We found a long string of solar lights while shopping one day and used them in the new peak.
Here is a photo at night that doesn't really do the lights justice. They are brighter than we thought and look really neat. I plan to get more strings and add them to the arbour over time. We'll then have a lighted outdoor room to sit in and enjoy the late evening.
It's absolutely beautiful and I love the lights. We attended a class on brick tuckpointing and it was held at a house not far from ours. They had a grape arbor that you had to walk under to enter their property and it was gorgeous. Between you and them, I'm inspired to build our own!
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