How to Landscape for Overhead Space for a Spanish Style With Arches

Landscapers utilize nature as a canvas.

In landscaping, trees are a flexible media; with some patience and a little forming, they can take on any shape imaginable, from artistic sculptures to useful arches. Spain’s rich architectural scenery of churches, castles, gardens, tunnel roads and waterways renders thoughts of curvaceous, overhead archways. Use any young and flexible, 11- or 12-foot-tall deciduous trees or evergreens to create natural arches that evoke a Spanish style over a driveway or walkway.

Things You'll Need

• Ladder
• Measuring tape
• Lumber, poles or sturdy branches to use as braces
• Saw
• Rope
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Measure the distance between two trees at the intended height of the arch’s underside.

2. Cut a brace 2 feet shorter than the determined width to fit between the two trees and begin the “bend” of the archway.

3. Bow the trees toward each other and secure the ends of the brace to each tree using rope. Alternatively, make the brace with crotched or rounded supports at each end and omit the use of rope.

4. Pull or winch the treetops to meet in the center of the archway above the brace. Use as little force as possible to avoid cracking or breaking the trees. Intertwine the branches together and securely bind them with rope to encourage horizontal growth.

5. Prune the trees to remove the excess undergrowth and create a rounded arch. Continue to prune the trees over the years or let them take on a natural appearance as they grow.

Tips & Warnings

• Ideally, to form an arch, use trees that grow 2 feet from each side of the driveway or pathway to allow space in between as they continue to grow.

• As the trees mature, prune the branches at the center of the arch to no more than 1 foot from the trunk to encourage overhead growth.

• Deciduous trees drop their leaves in the winter months; keep this in mind when choosing which species to use for arches.

• Ask a friend to help you with this project -- a second pair of hands will make the job quicker and easier.

• Do not cut into the tree bark with the rope, to avoid killing the trees.

• Always securely brace a ladder before ascending, to avoid a fall.

• Wear safety goggles when working with power tools and around tree branches.

References

• Harvard University; Verdant Arches and Bowers: Artificial Adaptations of Trees; Frank J. Scott