10 x 8 or 2.4 m round poles (for longer pergolas add more poles)

Ballast or bags of concrete

Sufficient rope to cover three lengths of the pergola, to allow for swags (if you buy new rope, leave it out in the rain before cutting to allow for shrinkage)

Nails or screws to fix

Saw scoop shapes into the top of 8 posts, to allow the cross pieces to sit on top. If necessary, get a carpenter or joiner to do this for you.

Cut two posts in half to form cross pieces.

Drill holes in 8 posts near top to allow rope to pass through.

Fix posts into ground, making sure they are equidistant from one another, either in a curve or straight line.

Check that the scooped out shapes at the top are running the right way.

Tip Nail 4 nails around the bottom of each pole so that they stick out. Once this end of the pole is placed in the concrete the nails will help to hold the pole still.

The following day, nail or screw cross pieces to top of posts. Insert rope into each side and feed along, allowing swags to form. Fray ends and nail to end posts.

Using a pergola such as this in the garden gives immediate interest at a higher level than young planting, valuable when the garden belongs to a new house with a blank canvas to be covered.

It also gives the garden a sense of purpose, appearing as it does to create the sense of a walkway leading to a destination.

Round poles can be obtained from a number of sources, and the rope was secondhand from a chandlers