Wrought Iron Gazebo  
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Steel Gazebo  
Canopy Gazebos  

Your Gazebo's Roof

Ever Heard Of a Living Gazebo?   They're made with real living trees! I know -- it's not a wrought iron gazebo -- but it's such an ingenious idea, and so easy to do, I just have to share it with you. You may never make a living gazebo, but everyone should know how! If you do decide to make a living gazebo, choose trees that do well in your hardiness zone. The best trees for a living gazebo have only 1 trunk with lots of side branches. The trees should be field grown and their root balls should be wrapped in burlap for protection. Living Gazebo Material List 4 young trees that are 6-8 feet tall each. You can use more, but not less 2 metal reinforcing rods that are 21’ in length and ½” in diameter 1 1-inch long piece of wire Some jute twine or plastic nursery ties for securing the trees to the reinforcing rods Assemble The Living Gazebo Mark out a rectangle on the ground that’s 8’ long by 3’ wide. Plant your trees at each of the marked corners. Be sure to follow your nursery’s directions for establishing young trees. In this step, you are forming an X over the center of the gazebo. Put a reinforcing rod next to one of the trees and push the end into the ground about 1’ deep. Then grab the top of this rod and bend toward the center of the gazebo toward an opposite tree. Push this end of the rod into the ground next the opposite tree about 1’ deep. Do this same thing with the other rode. Take the 1’ piece of wire and use it to securely attach the 2 reinforcing rods at the center of the gazebo. Bend a tree toward the center in the same direction as the reinforcing rod. Use the twine or ties to loosely attach the tree to the bent reinforcing rod arch. Do this for each of the other 3 trees so that all the trees are leaning towards the center of the gazebo in an X formation. Caring For Your Living Gazebo As the trees mature, prune off limbs that don’t confirm to your arch’s shape. If you’ve chosen fast growing trees, they’ll soon fill in making a living gazebo. To keep your living gazebo growing beautifully and maturing for decades, just prune it in early spring and again in midsummer. Tuck a bench under your living gazebo for a fabulously quiet, cool, private, peaceful place to stop and take in nature. Enjoying Your Wrought Iron Gazebo I only have 2 rules for any outdoor project: Love the work that you do Love the work that you’ve done Playing in your yard is not about getting through as fast as you can. It's all about letting the world go away and discovering your own pace. It's all about doing exactly what you want to do -- in exactly the way you want to do it -- as fast or as slow as you want to get it done. No worries. There are so many ways to enjoy your gazebo -- let it nurture you! It's as easy as taking a photograph of your accomplishment and sharing it with someone else -- maybe someone who is far away, who would love to see what you've been up to lately. Won't they be surprised and impressed! I get such a kick out of re-arranging outside. Sometimes I absolutely love what I've done. Sometimes not so much. The times when I don't are the best. It gives me an excuse to change it -- again. My outdoor spaces might look one way this week. And next week -- you wouldn't even recognize the place. A gazebo is a fabulous place to sit in quite meditation or to steal a moment for yourself to simply stop and read a few pages of a book. Grab yourself a cup of soothing tea and take it out to that chaise lounge you so artfully placed in your gazebo. A cup of tea to calm you might be just the thing to bring you into the moment. Why not take a muffin or scone along to snack on while you relax? The Real Value Of A Wrought Iron Gazebo It’s not really the leisurely gazebo atmosphere or the aroma of hot dogs on the grill. It’s stepping back to look at what you can accomplish when no one's opinion matters but your own. It's creating the very place where you will form your family bonds. It’s making memories for your family and friends that will endure in every heart long after all those seasons spent in your gazebo have passed. That's the real value! Recipes For Your Gazebo Lifestyle Food and drink always make any event even better – small and large. So here area few of my favorite outdoor recipes to help you get your wrought iron gazebo celebration on! Frisky Spritzer 3 10-ounce packs frozen sliced strawberries 6 cups white grape juice 1 28-ounce bottle of carbonated water Hold strawberries at room temperature for 20 minutes Put 2 packs of the strawberries in a blender -- undrained and blend until smooth In large serving container, mix blended strawberries, white grape juice, and the last package of unblended strawberries -- undrained. Serve by pouring the carbonated water slowly into the server container. Add red food coloring for a more vibrant color. Easy, Breezy, Cheesy Dogs 1 pound of hot dogs 8 strips cheese of your liking 8 thin bacon strips 8 hot dog buns 16 toothpicks Start the grill. Cut into each dog 1/2 inch thru. Fill the cut with cheese. Wrap bacon around hot dog and secure at each end with toothpicks. Grill the dogs. Turn them from side to side occasionally until they're brown and bubbly -- about 10 minutes. Stuff buns with grilled dog -- let's eat! Grilled, Glazed, Good Pineapple 1 medium pineapple 4 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup maple syrup Soak pineapple in water for 10 minutes -- you'll be grilling it and you don't want it to burn. In the meantime, melt butter on grill burner and mix in syrup. Take the pineapple out of the water and slice it into quarters and remove the core from each quarter, but leave the outer peel. Put sliced pineapple on an oiled piece of foil and cook. Turn and baste with the maple butter until the pineapple is golden. This should be ready after about 10 minutes. I've tried cooking these on the grill without the foil. It tastes better, but makes lots of smoke when the maple butter drips on the coals.  Don't you just love a wrought iron gazebo?