Gardman R351 Gothic Garden Arch, BLACK

I sincerely hope that someone will be able to benefit from reading this review. I bought two of these arches after having spent weeks shopping around. When the boxes arrived I was immediately concerned. I was afraid that the arches had been damaged as the thin cardboard shipping boxes had both been ripped in various places and looked pretty beat up. I was greatly relieved to find that there was nothing damaged or missing. A miracle! It was time consuming to figure out how to get the arch put together and then install it in the garden. I did it myself but would have found it much easier if I had an extra helping hand to set this thing up. It was best to fully construct it horizontally on the ground and then very carefully set it up vertically into the place I had chosen to install it. It is unwieldy as it is being assembled.While the tubular rods appear to be strong enough in themselves, they are held together with a type of black plastic connector that did not inspire confidence in the long term survival of the arch in a Midwestern climate. Time will tell on that one. The connectors must be screwed on to the tubular steel rod. There are 14 of them, and they are really the "strength" that supports the shape of the whole arch. One of the connectors had a screw hole that was cracked so that the screw could not properly bear the weight on one of the rods. I am going to contact the company and find out if I can get a replacement connector. In fact, you might want to buy a whole set of connectors for possible future repairs. There are also some black slightly stretchy "joint protectors" made out of some sort of soft rubber product. These must be slipped on so that the joint areas are covered on both sides. Might be nice to have a repair kit in the basement with a few of these beauties too.Another drawback is that the kit comes with one extra rod that is specially marked to be utilized to bang four holes into the ground, each 15" deep. These are the holes that you must place the four bottom rods of the arch into. The disadvantage is that the arch is not strong enough to endure any direct pounding with a rubber mallet, so you must be absolutely sure to make the holes very carefully before setting the arch into the ground. If the holes are not deep enough you will have to wrestle the trellis back up and out and bang the holes deeper again -- like I had to.After I finished assembling the second arch and had it in place, I stood back to see the final result and was quite horrified to discover that the high point finial on the front side was very crooked in comparison with the back one. I couldn't understand what the problem was but upon closer inspection I realized that it could only be one thing. I had to get the arch back up out of the earth (again) and disassemble the top arch area. The directions do not indicate that the front and back top arch must both be assembled in exactly the same direction. One half of the arch rod has a long flat shape to it and the other half of the arch rod that it fits into is a perfect circular tube. Although the overall shape of the front and back arch looks exactly the same, THEY ARE NOT! When you assemble the top strut that holds the back and front arch together, be very careful to place both of them in exactly the same direction so that the long flat shaped end of the rods are both on the same exact side for the front and the back arch.All in all, it is a great shape and the price was definitely right in comparison with other arches. I am using it as a cucumber trellis support with hardware cloth and twine attached to it. Hopefully I will get three or four seasons out it.I am writing an update to my above review as it is now a full year since I bought two of these trellises. The most unbelievable thing that I have to report about these two trellises is that they were both still standing up straight and tall right after we were hit by 100 mph straight-line winds that accompanied an EF1 tornado that touched down southwest of America's Hometown in Hannibal, Missouri on May 20, 2013. I had a gigantic four-story high elm tree fall on my neighbor's house, my windows exploded and broke on the west side of the house, and my front living room was flooded with water and debris; two story gutters were also ripped off my house, my chain link fence bent in two and yet these two arches were not damaged in the least. They didn't even topple over. What can I say? I have two super heavy metal arches that I bought from a different company and they were pulled right out up out of the ground with all of the old growth honeysuckle still hanging on for dear life. It took three people to get those heavy arches back into an upright position but the Gardman Gothic Arches didn't even budge an inch. No one is more surprised than me!April 16, 2014 update on the above review:Well, it has been about a year since the May 20, 2013 straight-line winds hit Hannibal. Like most snow states throughout our country, we had a real rough winter season, and it doesn't seem to want to quit. We had snow falling for most of yesterday afternoon. I thought that the two arches might have suffered some damage from all of the severe ice and snow we had this winter. I am delighted to report that the garden arches that I bought are still standing tall and proud! I carefully checked the plastic connectors a few days ago for signs of cracking and deterioration, and I am happy to tell you that there was no damage at all - not one bit. The black finish is still looking good too, and is completely free of any visible rust,dings,or peeling.It is hard to believe how durable these two garden arches turned out to be. I sometimes think back to when I struggled to assemble them after they arrived in those cheap damaged cardboard shipping boxes. I didn't know what to expect and wondered how long they might last. If you decide to purchase this arch, I would sincerely suggest that you don't rush when you do the assembly. You have to be careful in the set-up and have some patience fussing with all those plastic connectors. Once the arch is properly set in the ground it appears to have quite a bit of longevity and strength. Now that Spring has finally come I wish you all a very happy gardening season!March 8, 2018 updateWell, good people, I am here to report that these two arches are still standing tall and proud! Those plastic connectors have not cracked or torn, and the metal rods that make up the body of each arch are not bent or rusted either. The color of the arches have slightly faded from the original dark black to more of a grayish black, but I guess that happens to the very best of us, so I really can't complain. I'm getting ready for another gardening season, and I just wanted to give you all an update, as well as send my best wishes to my fellow gardeners out there!

I've had 3 of these for 2 years now and I love them. You don't need 2 people to build it. I am a girl and built it on the ground easily enough and was done in 20 min. I stepped inside and lifted it up to drag it to it's spot. I set it up, moved it back a bit and pounded 2 pieces of 22" rebar about 1/2" diameter into the ground about 8 -10 inches deep- each at an opposite end. No need for 4 pieces of rebar as this worked just fine holding this arch in place for 2 years so far. I did not push any of the arbor legs into the ground either so this kept the height I preferred. I was on the fence about this arch at first as it is not solidly built like some others. But, if it were it would cost alot more. So, you have to remember that. I have had numerous arbors and honestly, surprisingly, this has to be one of my favorites even though it may not be as solid. I tried a few similar designed arches that were cheaper and returned them as this was the better quality for the price. The 2 top finials are a hard molded plastic - disappointing at first but then pricewise, should be expected. However, it's not the cheap easily breakable stuff. They'll last forever without fading. The rubber sleeves cover the joints as you build the sides. The sturdy molded corner braces for the crossbars that attach to the front and back legs have a screw to attach them. There are no holes in the legs for these nor are there supposed to be, as the screw will push it's way slightly into the leg leaving the screw head perfectly flush against the plastic corner brace. This ensures a tight fit. It's a bit wobbly putting together and awkward to handle and square up to get it into place, but once it's there, it stays. Mine are in entry and exits of the rose garden and along the pathways and I grow a different variety of Clematis on each side of these arbors so they have plenty of height to grow and they look nice with 2 colors of Clematis blending while still being seperate plants. I put a stick in the ground so the clematis can climb it to reach the arbor. This is much better than the crappy overpriced one piece trellises out there that never stay upright or aren't tall enough. These arches support 2 plants easily taking up literally no rose area space as they are along the walk, while also arching the walkways and it looks fabulous. The wind does nothing to these. They are so open that there is no resistance. I really love this for vines and climbing roses as it is a breeze to prune compared to the arches with alot of scrolled metalwork. Takes forever to get dead canes and vines out of those types of arches. And honestly, it's a waste aesthetically and monetarily to have such a decorative arch as the plants cover all that metalwork up anyway. I also like the width of this arch as I have a wide garden cart for cleanup/pruning and my riding mower fits through easily as well with neither coming close to touching the bushy vines and causing damage. The height also gives it a very stately appearance and accomodates tall people. Overall, this was well thought out for reasons I mention and a good value for the price. Yes I would love this in solid iron, but I wouldn't love the price. This arch is more than capable of a good vine load and has served me very well. I did not expect much at first but over the years, I have become very happy with it and it is the only arch I will buy now, I just bought 4 more. If you want a different color, just get some Rustoleum and spray it. Simple enough.

I ended up returning this arch. It just was not happening. Too many parts, thin metal. It was a reasonable price, but just too much to assemble, at least for me, and also the lack of sturdy feel to the metal...

For the price I bought two of these, just in case, spare parts.I was amazed at how easy this was to assemble, and it's VERY sturdy once it is setup.So, the instructions need some help.First of all, don't put this together and then try to move it. I assembled just the four legs, and two tops and carried everything to the installation site. Then put the cross rails between the two legs and set those in the ground, ditto the other side. This way I was able to force the side rails as tightly as possible in to the fittings then use the actual legs to measure the distance between the holes. For my unit, it was 18" between the sides. (not the 19" indicated on the instructions). The 55" inch measurement was also tested with the assembled top pieces and it was perfect. Once the four legs were set, I lifted the top in place, secured it and measured and tightened up the screws for the side rails no problem. It would have been nice to have an assistant to hold the sides and rails while I tightened the screws but I found one person is perfectly capable of getting the job done. I would highly recommend this from a price value standpoint, I am very excited, I have two, now that the spare parts are not needed.I would once again say, you will have problems if you try to completely assemble this and then move it. It works much better if you put it up in pieces and let the ground help you hold it together. I also thought the 'hole digger' pole was a great idea for concrete-less mounting.

The assembling was a bit of a rigmarole. The connectors for the smaller rings are so tight that they're a struggle to slide along the long rods, for a start. I had to use some oil to help them slide into place. One of them cracked, but didn't fully break. Ideally, you need two people to assemble the whole arbour because once you've managed to do it, everything falls apart when you move it to the spot where you want it! I did it all on my own and in the end, I had to use a technique to make it work, i.e. place the whole thing in three stages. In the end, it worked and I'm very happy with the result. It's really nice and sturdy and I look forward to planting some clematis or honeysuckle along it next year.

I bought this a month ago. I generally don't write reviews but if I were buying this product I would want to know.Firstly, it took two people to put it together as you could not keep the rods in place. Kept falling apart. Initially we were laughing whilst putting it together cause it just was almost comical at how we could not seem to keep the rods in place. You'd connect one rod then the other would fall out. This just became tedious and frustrating.Once we finally got it all put together it was so flimsy it was difficult to have it stand straight with it basically wilting like a flower and falling over.To keep the rods in their brackets I bought Gorilla tape to tape it all together.Basically in the end it just looked cheap and horrible I dismantled it and its now in the rubbish. What a waste of $177.00My advice. Put that money towards something that will last. I thought this would be a really good "cheaper" option for an arbor but frankly, it was rubbish.

They are disappointing in the quality , at are too lightweight for the garden vines and roses.We had to beef them up to make sure they worked for us.Price was ok , but probably not a second purchase for us .Box arrived in was damaged .

It needs more horizontal bars to enforce it. And the plastic joint is not solid enough.The plastic sleeves are not good enough to cover the joining tubes. We are in the north with harsh winters.

I was easily able to set this up in just a couple of hours. We put it into the ground fairly deeply using a pole digger and we're using it to grow some clematis on. So far so good, and we've had a few strong wind storms already.