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For a garden to "work," it's got to have more than just complementary flower colors and interesting foliage for when plants aren't in bloom. Just as important is vertical interest, some feature or features that draw your eye up, causing you to scan and process the whole of the garden as a tapestry. Look at any of the really great British gardens, for example, and one of the common features you'll notice are huge, tall, brick or stone walls rising 8-, 10-, even 12 ft., or more. Well, that's hard to duplicate in this country these days, especially without a significant family fortune, but fences, arbors, trellises, and obelisks are all effective and affordable means of drawing the eye up and giving the garden a third dimension---height.

New gardens, especially, are in need of structures to provide this vertical element. Flowering trees, dwarf conifers, and large shrubs can all be used to provide natural vertical interest over the long term, but for the first few years there's simply no substitute for man-made structure. So what should you choose? Well, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish, the style of your house, and the kind of gardens you like. Let's talk first about what you're trying to accomplish.

Arbors, Trellises, and Obelisks, Oh My!

Although all three are capable of drawing your eye up and creating a focal point, arbors, trellises, and obelisks really have distinct functions in a garden. An arbor can be used to create a transition between areas in a larger garden---separating a kitchen garden from a cutting garden, for example---or can be used to create a sense of drama right at the entrance of any garden. Trellises are most useful for providing a framework on which to create interest, particularly up against boring, undifferentiated walls. They can also be used, however, to divide a garden into separate and distinct garden rooms, essentially forming living walls. Obelisks are towers, no more and no less. Their primary function is to draw the eye, to say "Hey, look over here!" At the center of a wheel-shaped herb garden, toward the back of a border that's otherwise too two-dimensional, or at the end of long path, an obelisk can grab your attention and hold it. With the right clothing, it can be a real showstopper.

Speaking of Style�.

Knowing what you want to accomplish with a structure or structures, however, is only the beginning. You also want to be sure that the character of your garden, and the various elements within it, resonate with your house. Generally, though, the kinds of gardens you like will be similar to the kinds of houses you like, so this shouldn't be a problem. Still, bear in mind that a quaint seaside bungalow requires a very different sort of garden than a stately Georgian mansion.

One of the main characteristics that dictates the style of any of the structures mentioned above is the material it's made of. Stylistically, there's a spectrum ranging from rustic to very formal. Willow branches or other saplings set up a decidedly rustic feel. Metal structures or those made of painted wood tend to feel the most formal. Somewhere in between saplings and steel are unpainted wooden structures made of sawn lumber. Whatever's right for you and whatever you choose, the added vertical interest you bring to your garden is sure to raise it to a new level.

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