In bygone days, a garden arbour was a sheltered spot made by training the branches of trees or climbing shrubs so that they intertwined to form an arched roof, which was often covered with beautiful scented blossoms. The idea of the garden arbour was to create a pleasant and secluded place in which to court one's love, read or write or simply relax with a drink and view one's own private kingdom.

The garden arbour today provides exactly the same benefits, but without all the time and trouble of planting, training and shaping that goes with the traditional idea. An arbour seat today can enclose a small sitting area anywhere in a garden, but is usually in a quiet secluded spot, often quite private or hidden from the rest of the garden by walls, fencing or planting.

An arbour seat makes a small, simple and effective feature, from where the garden can be viewed in varying degrees of comfort. Designed to provide a limited amount of shelter, the garden arbour normally incorporates a seat, sometimes with storage underneath. Most designs of garden arbour have a back, two sides and a roof but are open at the front.

Generally speaking whether you go online or visit a garden centre or other retailer you will find that garden arbours are offered in a range of prices and styles to meet every pocket and every house style from country cottage to urban chic living. Some even come with a thatched roof. Indeed, garden arbours can be built from all sorts of materials, but most garden arbours available off-the-shelf will be made either from timber, metal or metal/timber depending upon their design style and price range. Many garden arbours are available in kit form in a range of shapes and styles. DIY enthusiasts could even build their own arbour seat.

For many gardeners, the arbour seat is more of a feature than a place to actually sit. An eye-catching and attractive structure, it is often planted with roses, jasmine, clematis and other popular climbing plants, sometimes in conjunction with other planting or hard landscaping schemes. Many garden arbour designs incorporate decorative features like windows, cut outs and finials and there is something to suit everyone from traditional to the most modern.

Many of the most popular garden arbours or arbour seats are constructed in timber and most are made from FSC-approved, environmentally friendly timber, which is usually pressure treated to give all-weather protection against rot. Some have a pre-painted or dipped finish whilst others are supplied in a natural finish to paint or stain as you choose, enabling you to create an elegant feature that will give many years of lasting enjoyment in every season.

Of course you may be looking for a metal arbour made from wrought iron or powder coated metal and which is intended to form a frame for climbing plants. And although you can of course place furniture beneath it, this kind of metal arbour is really a compact pergola.