You don’t have to spend much time in a gardening or landscaping magazine before you will find a pergola, dripping with flowering vines, sheltering a couple inviting chairs or perhaps a lawn swing. You can just picture your own back yard with a stately pergola as a centerpiece. But is a pergola really useful, or is it just an expensive yard ornament? How could you get your money’s worth out of a pergola?

Even if you already have a pergola on your property, are you getting the best use out of it? Is it enhancing your life, or is it just sitting there, waiting to be used?

Our staff here at Pumpkin Patch Market put their heads together and came up with seven ideas to help stimulate your thinking about how to get the most out of your pergola, whether you already have one, or are thinking of buying one.

1. Create a Green Thumb Paradise

One of the most traditional ways to use a pergola is as a framework and setting for flowers and plants. Climbing vines such as wisteria will do beautifully on a wood pergola. Placing large pots at each post, constructing raised planters at the edges or in the center, are options as well. Of course, you will want to save room for some seating or a swing so you can enjoy your flowers when they bloom!

2. Enhance Your Visits

People love to talk and visit, and there’s no better place to get together outside than a shady pergola. No matter what size your pergola, it will be an inviting spot for company with a few seats, maybe a picnic table, or a couple swings. Of course you can stop by and check out all the seating options we have available at Pumpkin Patch Market. Our poly furniture is perfect for keeping outside in your pergola year round.

3. Enjoy Outdoor Living

If you like the idea of outdoor socializing but want to take it up a notch, why not create an outdoor living area? We have lots of comfortable seating, with side tables, loungers, and more. We can make a more shady roof, add curtains to slow the breezes, and we can even install a big stone fireplace on the side, to extend your outdoor living season.

4. Dine Outside

Many people are discovering the fun of cooking and eating outdoors in a custom built kitchen. Installing an outdoor kitchen in your pergola is just about the ultimate in outdoor dining. We can help you design your kitchen with everything you need, and we have plenty of outdoor poly dining furniture to choose from, including tables, chairs, serving and storage options, and much more. We can also install electricity or gas in your pergola for all your appliances and lighting.

5. Expand Your Poolside

If you have a swimming pool and deck area, the next best thing is a bit of shade. Pergolas are the perfect accent for poolside relaxing, snacking, or just watching the day go by. Install a bar with matching stools, fill it with lounge chairs, or leave the top mostly open and install curtains for private sunbathing. We can design a pergola that will match your existing pool décor and style.

6. Relax in a Quiet Place

Don’t think that just because you don’t have a lot of room, or because you don’t host big parties, that you wouldn’t benefit from a pergola. They can be as small and intimate as you want, to provide a place for relaxing and just getting away from the cares and stress of the day. All you need is room for a lounger or comfortable chair, and you are ready to while away the hours among the flowers. Hang some bird feeders or nesting boxes, and you may even have company. Of course, if your idea of relaxing is catching up on your social media, you can always install a Wi-Fi booster in your pergola!

7. Brighten Up the Night

With all the options we have available for fireplaces, fire pits, electrical packages for heating and lighting, your pergola will be working overtime. Everyone from the old folks to the teenagers will be vying for their turn to have an after hours party in the pergola. Hang some curtains to keep out the chill and the party may go on all night!

Time To Start Dreaming

Hopefully we have stimulated your thinking with some of these ideas for getting the most out of your pergola. Of course, you can mix and match from these ideas, as well as your own, to create the perfect pergola for your lifestyle.

And you can rest assured that no matter what type of pergola you want, buying if from Pumpkin Patch Market will guarantee that it was built by the finest local Amish craftsmen, from top of the line materials, and built to last for many years. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Contact us online or by phone, or better yet, stop by, and let us help you realize your dream for fun and practical outdoor living, in your new pergola.