Pergolas have quietly become one of the most-requested things we build. A few years ago they were a bit of an afterthought, a timber frame to grow a climber over. Now people want a proper outdoor room: somewhere to sit out of the sun, get under cover when it rains, and use the garden well past summer. A good pergola does exactly that, and it gives the garden a focal point at the same time.
If you've been looking at them and getting lost in the options, this is the plain-English version of what's worth knowing.
Key takeaways
- A pergola turns a patch of patio into a defined, sheltered seating area
- Timber looks natural and costs less, but the roof is open to the weather
- Aluminium louvered pergolas open and close, so you get shade and rain cover, plus built-in lighting and heating
- They work best designed together with the patio underneath, not added on afterwards
What a pergola actually gives you
The point of a pergola is to make a part of the garden usable when it otherwise wouldn't be. Full sun in July, a shower in September, a cool evening in May. It puts a roof of some sort over your head and draws a line around a space, so a flat patio suddenly feels like a room you want to sit in.
It also does something for the look of the garden. A pergola adds height and structure, which a lot of flat gardens are missing, and it gives the eye something to land on from the kitchen window.
The real choice: timber or aluminium
This is the decision that matters, so it's worth getting right.
A timber pergola is the classic. It's warm, natural and suits an informal or cottage-style garden, and it's the more affordable route. The roof is open beams, which is perfect if you want to train a climbing plant over the top for dappled shade. The trade-off is honest: an open timber frame won't keep the rain off, and timber needs a re-treat every couple of years to stay looking its best.
An aluminium louvered pergola is the modern, do-everything option. The roof is made of blades that rotate, so you can open them for sun, angle them for shade, or close them fully into a watertight roof when it rains. They come in clean powder-coated finishes, they don't need treating, and you can build in LED lighting, heating and even side screens. They cost more, but you'll use the space in far more of the year, which for a British garden is the whole game.
Where a pergola works best
Nine times out of ten, the best spot is right off the back of the house, over the main patio, so you can step straight out under cover. But they also work beautifully further down the garden as a destination: a seating area at the end of the lawn that pulls you out into the space.
Lit up in the evening is where they really earn their keep. Wrap some festoon lighting through the frame, add a heater, and the garden carries on being used long after the sun's gone down.
Thinking about a pergola?
We design and install timber and aluminium louvered pergolas across Nottingham. Tell us how you'd like to use the space and we'll suggest the right one.
Design the pergola and patio together
The biggest mistake we see is treating the pergola as a bolt-on. A louvered pergola is heavy and needs its posts fixed down properly, ideally onto footings set while the patio base is being built. Plan the two together and the posts land in the right place, the drainage works with the roof, and any lighting cabling is run before the slabs go down rather than chased in afterwards.
Tip: decide on the pergola before the patio is laid, even if it's going in later. Setting the footings and running the cables at base stage saves lifting slabs and gives you a far cleaner finish.
Planning permission, briefly
Most pergolas don't need planning permission. As long as it sits to the side or rear of the house rather than out front, stays under roughly 2.5 metres if it's close to a boundary, and doesn't swallow more than half the garden, it usually falls under permitted development. Conservation areas and listed buildings are the exceptions worth checking. We'll always point this out when we quote so there are no surprises.
What it costs
A simple timber pergola is the budget-friendly end and is driven mostly by size and the timber used. An aluminium louvered pergola is a bigger investment, generally a few thousand pounds and up once you include the structure, the base it sits on and any lights or heating. Because the surface underneath changes the figure, we price the pergola and patio as one job rather than guessing at either in isolation.
The short version
If you want a natural look on a sensible budget and you like the idea of climbing plants, go timber. If you want to actually use the garden in the rain, in the heat and in the evening, an aluminium louvered pergola is worth the extra.
At Nottingham Landscaping Services we design and fit pergolas and the patios that go under them, right across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. If you've got a spot in mind, send us a message and we'll help you choose.