All is not lost though. Somewhere near the shore of another fishpond was a remnant of another long gone gazebo. Since we could not build on the original planned site, I decided to build on this site instead. And on this location will rise a pergola.
Where the pergola will be located.
In my long distance phone conversation with my dear father, he suggested that we use a sturdy material for the pergola so that it won't easily rot and even a strong storm cannot blow it away. So instead of wood, we settled for steel pipes. The project was funded and the construction commenced.
Construction of the latticework.
Assembling the pergola.
Assembling the pergola as seen from another angle.
With the pergola complete, all it needs now is a plant to climb up and fill the spaces on top. For this, I decided to use the Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea) vine which was growing passionately in the nursery. Then I was told that it was one of the storm casualties. The vine's main trunk broke at the very base and it never grew back.
Installing concrete pillars.
For now the pergola will have to wait for its permanent occupant. We ordered four pots of the Blue Passion from my mother's favorite garden store, which should be available by the latter part of this month.
But we are not done yet with this project. As you can see, the concrete floor of the old gazebo has cracked in several places. It needs a new coat of concrete to level the floor. I'm thinking of laying terracotta tiles on top of this concrete to lend a rustic look. Then we need to landscape the surrounding areas. So it means more plants are needed. Whew, and I thought this endeavor was supposedly simple.
It looks like one of the projects I mentioned in my "What's in store for 2011" entry on Fer's Garden Carnival is on its way to fruition.
