Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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 update Well, 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!