Wooden Garden Gates Design

Wooden garden gates are the traditional style of gate that is still very commonly seen throughout the country. While steel or wrought iron gates also remain popular, there's something about the natural qualities of wood that somehow lends itself much more to a garden setting. Wooden garden gates have a robust nature combined with style and elegance that metal can fail to have. There's something about them that just feels right, and every garden should have one. Wooden garden gates simply make sense at a deep, basic level.

Wooden garden gates can be available in so many traditional styles that you are really spoiled for choice. The flat top, essentially rectangular and solid, garden gate is perhaps the most basic design. A variation on it is the flat top but slatted gate that has thin spaces between its upright planks. Next to that in terms of simplicity comes the arched top gates, which is essentially the same in basic design as the flat top, but with a curved and arched top. A variation of that design is one that has the outer and inner beam structures of the gate raised above the lower arch levels.

Another popular design for wooden gates is one that has the top third of the gate, approximately, open with upright bars connecting to a top supporting horizontal or arched beam. A fairly traditional approach is to have wooden upright bars connecting to a top arched beam, which gives the gate a kind of sameness look throughout. An arguably more interesting design is one that incorporates metal upright bars connecting to an arched wooden top beam. The same design can also have the metal bars connect to a flat horizontal wooden beam.

One less commonly seen design is the reverse arched top beam with wooden upright bars connecting to it. This design actually works surprisingly well, though it doesn't immediately lend itself to a pleasing design if you only think about it. Other wooden garden gate designs are of course possible, but these tend to be the most common ones. A lifting latch is almost obligatory on a wooden garden gate. The latch has a large ring at its pivoting point to make opening and closing easier.

Wooden garden gates have a long history, a history that stretches back about as long as we have had gardens, most likely. Wood is a material we have used since the beginning of time, almost. It is readily available, easy to shape and work, and it is renewable, which in today's climate of environmental thinking, is surely a good thing. Wooden garden gates look good. They have a chunky secure appearance that gives confidence, yet they can have an elegance and style that shows off a garden to its best effect.

Wooden garden gates have to withstand a lot of variation in weather conditions, regardless of where you live. In summer it is likely to be drier and hotter, with colder and wetter weather prevailing in winter. From severe frost to searing heat, it all takes its toll in the long run. For this reason wooden garden gates need to be built to take whatever comes along. Wood can do that if it's properly treated and maintained. This is quite easy to do and very much worthwhile doing too. A properly looked after wood garden gate can last a lifetime or more, delighting more than one generation in the process.

Wood lends itself well to all kinds of customisations and decoration. It is very possible to have sweeping contours and stylish patterning to fully set off the item. Wooden garden gates can be combined with metal surroundings, perhaps an upper decorative section made from wrought iron. This could serve to add interest as well as security. Custom iron work on wooden garden gates can add considerable strength as well as pleasing aesthetics. The presence of strong metal next to wood, or interpenetrating the wood, can serve as a confidence booster to any owner, and as a deterrent to any would-be intruder.