[Ratty]

am off this week so went off to the timber yard to get some wood and built a pergola for the allotment.
4" posts and 3"x2" for the rest,
metpost ground spike things
Box of 50 M10x100mm coach screws

Will make some ornamental bracing bits to tart it up a bit. The we have a grape vine we are going to plant to grow up it.
Not bad if I do say so myself 

[Stree]

Not a bad effort at all !
What have you person in mind for bracing? and where are you putting them?
I would use the same timber and keep the clean lines, help stabilize it at the same time.
Not saying it looks unstable now! but in a 70 MPH gust a few years on when its full of a grapevine in leaf and the rest is covered in clematis/honeysuckle/rose/wisteria etc then thats a lot of pounds per square inch with the plants acting like a sailcloth.
How tall is it to the top rail and what width between the posts?

[Ratty]

I had a good swing from it and it doesn't budge at all. Appreciate the comment about a few years down the line though. It isn't this year I need to worry about. 

The braces will be from the offcuts on the inner face of the corners between post and top rails.

It is about 6' 9" to the top rail.
Front to back it is 5' 10"
Width 6' 10"

There will be a fence going up behind it so hopefully that will take some of the energy out of the wind, plus the plot behind will be putting his greenhouse halfway across there.

Any advice on further stabilization will be much appreciated   

[Stree]

I was hoping thats what you would say about the braces ! best on all four faces ideally.
 

The way I would do it? Well first of all don't take any of this as any sort of criticism because its not, I am a woodworker and there is certainly nothing wrong with what you have done but the braces are simple in concept but can be made and fixed in many ways
The sides parallel with the shed are the ones that would "rack" first, either towards or away from the shed...This is because the only thing stopping this is the two coachscrew  fixings at the top of the posts where the rail is fixed..... You have already said  you know it needs braces, so how to do it for best rigidity.........

The rails are fixed to the side of the posts so the brace will have to be lined up central with either the post or the rail. The strongest way with the least carpentry ( not so easy once its built !)  is to fix the brace to the side of the post which will bring the brace 3x2 in line with the top rail 3x2....With me? so the brace and top rail sides are flush both sides?
now the top  rail and brace can be fixed simply with nails or screws alone but I would cut out a small birdsmouth notch so the brace is let into the beam about 1". This means the angles are not quite 45% but you could leave the post end overlong and saw it flush when you are happy with the lineup and toprail notch fit.
The other way, along the length is still prone to racking though this is lessened by the top 3 straddle rails, so I would put the braces to all four sides.
There is an order to this, it will be much easier if you fix the braces to the top straddle rails first, that is, to the sides parallel with the shed..........
That way when you have cut the rails to length flush with the post you will have nothing in the way for the braces on the other sides....
I hope thats clear to you, easy to show but harder to explain !

What grapevine are you planting? can you recommend one for growing outside? I have seen them but only old ones that people can't remember the name of.

[Ratty]

excellent info, thanks 

You have described exactly what I was planning on doing, except the birdsmouth bit... haven't heard of that before (google time) 

It is a slightly smaller version of the one over our pond, and that has been up 7 years without any issues 

[celjaci]

I'm impressed!

Even more impressed if you are worked up and have time to sit under it - what's the secret?

[Ratty]

I'm impressed!

Even more impressed if you are worked up and have time to sit under it - what's the secret?

Spending 12 hours every weekend since January down at the plot 

There are some monthly update videos (1 minute each) on our blog, which will give a good overview of the rest of the plot

If you go right back to the first entry you can see what we took on. 

[Ratty]

finished the pergola off today  Put a few braces on (bit small but was all I had left of off-cuts)

Then bought some of that expanding hazel trellis stuff and made my own frame to keep it in shape. That should add a bit of rigidity across the back.

If you look carefully at the right foreground post next to the bench, you can see the most important feature... the little shelf to rest a brew 

[bluealf]

finished the pergola off today  Put a few braces on (bit small but was all I had left of off-cuts)

Then bought some of that expanding hazel trellis stuff and made my own frame to keep it in shape. That should add a bit of rigidity across the back.

If you look carefully at the right foreground post next to the bench, you can see the most important feature... the little shelf to rest a brew 

That is great and i am building one in the back garden in the summer, so any tips would be super.

The thing i am thinking of though is havnt you wasted a lot of your plot for growing things ? Or have you a huge plot ?

I have a 60ft x 25ft plot and i am nearly 3/4 of the way down with beds and i couldnt squeeze a lovely structure like that in   

[Ratty]

The thing i am thinking of though is havnt you wasted a lot of your plot for growing things ? Or have you a huge plot ?

nope, that is the bit at the "back" of the plot where you have sheds, compost bits etc. The plot is 90' x 22' behind me 

[bluealf]

Thats fantastic then, hopefully the people who havnt started on the plot next to me, will pack it in and i can nab it.

Glutton for punishment me