Best pergolas for a beautiful summer in the UK [Summer 2021 review]

We start our vest pergola product reviews with the excellent sculpted wooden garden pergola kit from Arbor Garden Solutions. No matter how big or small your garden is, you are sure to find this pergola in a size to suit, from the smallest 1.8m x1.8m four post, to the 4.8m x 4.8m model with six posts, and a choice of two colours, both of which look natural and would go with any garden furniture.

No matter what size you decide to go with, you will be the proud owner of a garden pergola that is not only top quality, but also quick to assemble. The corner posts and beams have been pre-cut with a notch in them so that the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, and thanks to some precise engineering from Arbor Garden Solutions, we had absolutely no problem with anything being misaligned.

The main posts are made from red timber that has been pressure treated to make it highly resistant to rot, and the makers say that you will get up to 15 years out of it. As the most stable way to put up a pergola is to dig holes for the posts to be inserted into, the posts themselves come 2.3 metres long to allow for a good length of wood to be concreted in.
If you decide to have this wonderful pergola freestanding, or screwed into some decking, that is also a viable option, but you will probably want to cut the posts down a little.

As a test, we assembled this model freestanding, and while it was trickier to get up and needed more people, once it was all slotted and screwed into place, it was extremely stable.
Shaped at the ends in a nice curved design, the rafters not only look great but have been made to last as long as the posts. Being made of pressure treated CLS C24 timber, which is often used in construction projects, these beams will stand the test of time just as well as the posts supporting them.

As we already said, assembly and construction of this Pergola is relatively simple, and to make things even easier, the instructions are sent in PDF form via email so you can have them on your phone for a quick glance while putting the structure together.
If you’re still struggling, you can always call customer service which we found to be more than helpful.

Five stars for the Arbor Garden Solutions sculpted wooden garden pergola. A great buy at a reasonable price.

If you want your garden to be a true wonderland, you should have a jaw dropping pergola arch like this leading to it, or maybe for connecting different parts of the garden in a unique way.

Standing 245cm high, 182cmwide, 136cm deep, and having a design that marries both the contemporary and the classic in a very interesting way, this pergola archway is certainly what I would call eye catching, and I would challenge you to disagree.

Four timber posts support two long rafters that then have another five smaller rafters inserted into it along its length, in classic pergola style. There are four curved corner braces of wood which are joined from the posts to the larger rafters, creating the arch effect. This arch is complemented beautifully by the lattice trellises found on either side of the Pergola, and running almost the entire height of it.

All this together creates a garden feature that really stands out without having to be astronomical in size. Like all the best pergola kits, this one from the Forest brand comes in the minimum amount of parts possible (17 main pieces to be exact), and is meant to be as easy to construct as possible.

For the most part, this is definitely true of this product, but there are a few holes that you need to drill and make sure that they are done to the right measurements otherwise you might have problems with alignment. Anyone with a tiny bit of DIY skill should be able to do this without too much hassle though.

I will say that you definitely need some help putting this together, if only to hold things in pace while you line others up, but that can be said for all of these kinds of products.
All the screws and fittings needed to put this pergola together are included, but if you ask me, I would suggest swapping them for better ones, especially the screw which could do with being 10-20mm longer. This can be done very easily and inexpensively, and is something I do with all kits and flat pack products just to be on the safe side.

All of the timber pieces have been pressure treated with an anti-fungal preservative to ensure that it can fight rot. These types of treatments are very popular with wooden garden furniture because they can keep the timber in good condition for up to 15 years. If you want to add another layer of protection to your garden pergola, feel free to use wood stain or paint it any colour you like, as this one arrives unpainted.

This could be a superb addition to your garden, but I would say one thing, and that is to dig holes in the ground and use concrete to set the posts in, or find another way to secure it, as I don’t know how stable this would be free standing. Other than that, I have nothing really bad to say about the Forest Pergola arch and found it to be a great product from a UK based company.

Here’s a more modern take on the pergola concept that comes to us courtesy of Palram, a company that has been in the business for nearly 60 years and has subsidiaries all over the world.

This is actually a pergola patio cover rather than what you would call a traditional pergola, but it is still an outstanding product that I thought was worthy or a closer look and review.
The design is similar to a lean to conservatory, minus the walls. Three large, heavy duty aluminium posts are joined to a rafter running perpendicular by galvanized steel connecting pieces that have been laser cut for precision. Leading from this rafter to the wall of the house are multiple smaller rafters.

These rafters help to support the multiwall polycarbonate roof panels that are completely UV resistant and won’t discolour or turn yellow over time. Nor will they break without someone really trying purposely to do so. These 8mm thick panels are extremely hardy.
The overall effect of these components coming together in the way they do, is a really simple, yet elegant contemporary design, which would look incredible on any kind of house, new or old.

It is available in two different colours, a brilliant white, or a much darker grey. I can’t speak to the grey, but the white one that we looked at had a really well done paint job, and looked absolutely cracking when the sun was shining on it. And when the sun stops shining and we get that inevitable British rain storm, there’s no need to worry because the quality roof and guttering direct all that water away from you and your garden furniture.

The model we reviewed was the 3×4.25 metre version, but there are smaller and larger ones to choose from and should be enough to suit most people’s needs. A great feature of this pergola patio cover are the flexible position poles. These allow you to adjust the height at the wall connection, the distance between the poles at the front of the pergola, and even the distance from the house.

It is much easier to assemble than it looks, thanks to design features like the click and lock system on the roof panels, and full set up can be done with as little as two people.
This beautiful pergola would suit people looking for something a little more modern and different, or those of you who would like a much cheaper alternative to a conservatory.
It is high quality, well designed, and looks great.

Turn that boring old garden corner into your own personal oasis with the Smiles Woodcraft corner pergola. There are three different sizes available to choose from on Amazon, but the company also makes them to order, so you could contact them if you have enquiries about the size you think you’ll need.

Handmade in Swindon, right here in the UK, these corner pergolas are nonetheless very affordable. The 240 x 240 x 240cm variety can be bought for under a hundred and forty pounds, and for a pergola of this quality, that’s nothing to be sniffed at. To ensure long life without rot, the timber has been pressure treated, but arrives without being painted so you can always add another layer of protection to it by doing that yourself.

The main posts are made 40cm longer than the actual standing height is supposed to be for sticking them into the ground, or you can use bolt downs if you wish, but I wouldn’t suggest leaving this freestanding without any extra support.

It takes about a couple of hours with two people to get this thing up and in place. It’s not particularly heavy and the pieces all fit together as they should. As always, I advise getting your own screws and fittings, and not using the ones provided as they could be better, or in this case, should be longer to really keep the structure strong and stable.

Anyway, we had this pergola up and setting in the corner without too much trouble and I was pleased by the end result. I really like the way the top beams spread out at angles from the corner point, it reminds me of rays of sunlight at dawn, shooting out to start the new day.

Overall, I have to say that this will be a great little addition to any garden, especially smaller properties who just don’t have the space for a full pergola. It takes a boring corner, and turns it into an area of interest, relaxation, and beauty, and all for an affordable price.

While we don’t exactly have the longest, sunniest, summers in the world, I still always manage to get sunburnt once the weather changes for the better. The thing is, I’m a social animal and would rather sit out in the sun with people who have much less pasty skin than I do, than go sit in the shade on my own. The end result is always the same: lovely lobster red skin, glowing like the people in those old Ready-Brek adverts.

This 3 metre by 3 metre pergola might just be the answer to my prayers though. You see, it features a thick polyester canopy that can be extended or retracted in seconds using a simple pulley system.

This means that when I feel I’ve had my fill of the sun, I can pull the canopy out a little and sit in the shaded part while the wife and others can stay in the sun. Best of all, we would all be still close together so I could join in the conversation and not feel so much like a social leper. Everyone’s a winner! The canopy is made from a good quality polyester material that not only does a great job of providing shade when you need it, but is water repellent too, thanks to the PA coating which also gives the canopy a nice ‘crisp’ finish.

Made from sturdy, rust proof aluminium, the pergola frame is built to last, and you don’t have to worry about rot and insects eating it like you might with a wooden pergola. The aluminium gives the pergola a more modern look, and would maybe be a better fit for people with contemporary garden furniture and ornaments than a wooden framed pergola. Assembly took about the same length of time as putting up a good wooden pergola of the same size: about a couple hours with two to three people working on it at a steady pace.

All the parts arrived in excellent condition, with no damage during transit, and everything lined up correctly. I thought the runner mechanism that the canopy uses to slide on would be a pain to set up, but I was pleasantly surprised on that part. We screwed this pergola into some wooden decking, and it stood really solid. I wouldn’t have any worries about removing the canopy and leaving the frame out in the winter wind and rain at all.

This is another great alternative to the more traditional wooden pergolas. The contrast in colour between the frame and the canopy works great, the quality of all the components is excellent, and the price is competitive. A good choice for us ‘summertime lobsters’ that’s for sure.