I was explaining my plan to upgrade the storage shed in my side yard when my boyfriend interrupted. We were in the backyard under my aging black pergola. “If you really want to improve your backyard, consider replacing this old thing,” he commented, tapping on the aluminum pole. 

I tried not to notice the rusty flake of metal that fluttered to the ground.

After a day of brushing against the pergola’s aluminum poles, I would often find small pieces of rusty metal lying on the deck and in the grass, and, later, tangled in my hair. The structure creaked during strong winds, and the replacement shade cloth never quite fit the way it should.

He was right. 

The old pergola had to go, but I needed shade. The middle of my yard is in full sun for most of the day. My flower boxes love it, but sitting outside while squinting and overheating is not very relaxing. The old 10-by-8-foot pergola was about twenty years old. It covered only part of the deck, did not blend in with the white fence and railing, and required me to replace or adjust the soft cover every year.

Once I had my boyfriend’s enthusiastic commitment to help take down the old structure—and help put up the new one—I started looking for a replacement. The first question was whether I wanted a hardtop gazebo or another soft-top structure. For me, a hardtop gazebo was the more functional choice. A solid roof would give me deeper shade and better protection from rain. Also, I would not have to keep replacing a fabric canopy.

Product image: PURPLE LEAF / The Home Depot

I wanted one in white.

My old black pergola did not fit well with the white railing, trellis, and fence. I found a white-framed PURPLE LEAF hardtop gazebo at The Home Depot that was close to the size I needed. It was more expensive than a soft-top pergola, but still within the range of my budget. The problem was not the function. It was the look. The dark hardtop felt heavy in my small backyard; I worried that the structure would dominate the space.

My yard is fairly open, and the deck, railing, and fences are made up of simple, straight lines. Beyond the six-foot fence, I can still see parts of the neighboring yards, which are fairly open as well. I wanted more shade, but I did not want the new structure to become the main view or to take over the whole yard.

So I kept looking.

I had a problem with the size. I found several pergolas and gazebos that were 16 by 12 feet, but I did not have twelve feet of depth between the edge of the flower box and the house. Extending the deck just to make a shade structure fit would have been impractical. I was already dreading the work involved in this project, so I wasn’t interested in adding another construction project to it.

Product image: Paragon Outdoor

I needed something sixteen feet wide and no more than about eleven feet deep when I came across the 11-by-16-foot Florence soft-top pergola from Paragon Outdoor.

It had a soft top, which was not what I had originally planned to buy. But it had several things working in its favor: a white frame, a retractable canopy, the dimensions I needed, and a much lighter visual presence than the hardtop gazebos I had been considering.

The customer reviews were reassuring, and the pergola was on sale when I found it. I understood the tradeoff. The canopy would give me shade, but it would not give me the same rain protection as a hard roof. I understood that neither choice was perfect; each had a downside. Ultimately, I went with this one. 

Putting the structure together was not a quick little project. 

My boyfriend and I spent most of the day assembling it. The directions were understandable, and all the parts were there, but there were a lot of stages.  This was one of those projects that looks much simpler when the pieces are still in the box. If I were doing it again, I would plan on setting aside the day and keeping the manufacturer’s installation and support information nearby.

So far, I love this pergola.

It is not as weatherproof as the hardtop models I considered, but it does the job I actually needed most: it gives the deck shade without making the backyard feel closed in.  The straight white frame works with the straight lines of the railing and fence, and the gray canopy picks up the gray siding on the house.

The larger footprint also makes a noticeable difference. Instead of covering only part of the deck, the pergola now defines the seating area and makes the whole space feel more intentional.

A hardtop gazebo would have been more functional in the rain, but I was not only interested in functionality. The size of the yard, the view from the house, the colors already in the yard, and how much visual weight I wanted the structure to have were a little more important to me.

For this backyard, the lighter pergola was the better fit. 

Are you considering adding a shade structure to your yard?  Would you go with a soft-top pergola or a hardtop gazebo? What matters most to you: deeper shade, rain protection, size, color, or how the structure fits into the garden around it?

If you’d like to follow along with other garden projects and purchase decisions, explore more Upgrades posts or subscribe to Anchored & Aimless.

Explore Anchored & Aimless

Home  |  Start Here  |  Design  |  Maintenance  |  Challenges  |  Upgrades  |  View All Posts  |  Subscribe

Follow Anchored & Aimless: YouTube  |  Instagram

Backyard photographs in this post are by the author, Annaliese Degrassey. Product images are credited above.