Our most recent hardscape project is constructing an pergola over our north patio. After getting an estimate in the $7000 range from a company a couple of years ago, we decided to go the do-it-yourself route. Mike researched building a structure and tying it into the house, which is a fairly complicated process requiring building permits. We decided instead to purchase this freestanding assemble-it yourself pergola from Lowe's instead. It was on sale for $500 and if we bought three of them, we could cover the entire patio for far less than $7000. Home Depot offers a similar pergola by a different manufacturer for the same price, but we decided against it because the canopy cover is controlled mechanically. Mike did make some of the modifications suggested by the Lowe's reviewers, including stuffing a 4 by 4 up the support posts and bolting it to a square concrete paver.
Because of our roof overhang, the 10 by 10 pergola doesn't fit nicely on our 10 foot wide patio as we imagined. If we just put the outer support posts into the raised beds, they would probably rust fairly quickly, so we need to redo part of the raised beds and pavestones. In the pictures below you can see how far the posts must go into the raised bed, and how Mike is redoing the area to incorporate them into the retaining block wall.
Gardening projects, like many things in life, are often more complicated than they seem! The trick, I think, is to keep your eye on the goal and not the complications.
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