replace and stain arch at entrance to 'England' - check!

Hallelujah!  It is finally done!  This is the entrance to the back corner of my garden which my family fondly calls 'England', where most of my edibles are grown. I am especially loving the difference the blue colour makes - zing!  What an easy way to add colour to the garden!  Hmm, what to paint next...?

Before: When we moved to this house in 2004, my husband (without asking!) immediately took the top off this old brown arch because it was too short and he kept bumping his head.  This is what it has looked like ever since!  It was an eyesore.  It was also too narrow and we could barely get a wheelbarrow through, not to mention that the clematis macropetala vine on the right side is so vigorous that it made the entry even narrower.

After:  A new, blue (of course!) arch, wider and taller so you can comfortably and safely enter 'England' without getting attacked by a wayward clematis branch.  I bought the arch 2 years ago at an end-of-season sale, and it's taken me this long to get it painted and installed.  That's the way things go around my house!  I had to cut the clematis down to the ground, but I'm sure it will come back just fine next year.  There's a honeysuckle vine on the left side, which I also had to cut back by about 50%.  By next year those vines will have recovered and the arch will look like it's been there for ages.

What do you think?  Are there any structures in your garden that could use a little paint?

Comments

[plantman]

Looks great. That clematis will come back with a vengeance next year. Pruning makes them extra vigourous.

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Sheesh! Hard to imagine it being any more vigorous but thanks for the reassurance! ;-)
Janice

[Paula]

Love it!!! Love that it is blue! I like the vignette that it creates in England.

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Thanks Paula! I, too, like that you can actually see the urn with flowers now!! That was kind of the point!
:-)

[Anchorage Carpet Cleaning]

It looks even more beautiful after the changes you've made. I'll be pinning this.