David, I don't know how handy you are, but when I see your fence I imagine wood posts (4x4) mounted in front of each fence post supporting a small arbor. i'm having a hard time describing it, but the roses would grow up the pillars and over the arbour obscuring any view of your neighbors. It would make your yard a private Eden. Then you could put any sort of bench underneath and even grow tall bush to hide the white fence. Just a thought! : )) I do like the bench/arbor however. For it I might try to find something lower thorn such as Ghislaine de Feligonde, Peggy Martin, Kathleen Harrop or Excellenz von Schubert from Burlington. You have a lot of space to fill with climbers! : ))

I like your idea! Renae is another low thorn climber. I would probably make it an arbor/bench bed, with other shrub roses & companion plants. Stacked tall to low, to blend into the lawn plane. I‘d do a curved border around the front, to offset all the angles. Maybe some stepping stones in the grass leading to it? This would make it look like a destination. :-)

I too was going to suggest Renae. She is thornless, scented and an overall great rose. The one thing I would do is to put the corners of the bench/arbor on some level cement squares/pavers. That way, you don't have a wobbly arbor/bench.

It's "cute" in the "showroom" with nothing growing on it. But in real life, a plant attached to the structure is going to leave room for one person to sit down. I would build an arbor of wood posts with a broader opening (5' or 6'+ width x 8' height).

I think you should plant rose climbers two feet away on a pillar on either side, and then plant annual climbers on the actual bench. Maybe Scarlett Runner Beans?
Carla in Sac

Do you intend sitting in this arbor, or is it just a focal point?

I'm loving all these suggestions it almost too much to digest lol

I'm also adding a gazebo to my yard (today actually) so I don't see it getting much use for actual sitting.

Sultry, thanks for mentioning thorns. I must admit I never gave thought to them.

Vapor, I love your thoughts on making a private Eden, I'm just not really picturing what you are visualising. It probably wouldn't matter because I'm not the "start from nothing and make something" type of handy. I can usually improve the hell out of something but I need to have that initial something lol.

Perma, I love the stepping stone idea. It would be great one path to the gazebo another to the arbor. Anything to conceal my awful grass. Yuck

Nuts, wouldn't placing it on paver make it less secure then staking it into the ground? I am concerned about it blowing over in a storm.

Carla, do you mean have the roses in containers on the pillars?

I'm going to have to check out Renae. Is she an English style like the Austins? I like that style very much.

I'm much in dept to your comments,

David

Word of warning. If you don't want grill marks on your backside get cushions for it. Even in my climate our metal bench gets too hot to sit on sometimes. I agree on using annual climbers or maybe a weakish growing Clematis. Definitely not roses. And it doesn't have much length on the legs to stick in the ground. How will you anchor it?

If I were you I would choose a very fragrant rose for your bench arbor, and would consider purchasing or building an arbor and getting a bench that fits beneath it, chosen both for size and comfort (the metal bench looks uncomfortable). Then you could sit on your comfy bench and read a book, smelling the scent of roses and relaxing under your leafy green arbor. I don't recall Crown Princess Margareta being a very fragrant rose (at least to my nose) and am not entirely sure about fragrant climbers in your area. The idea of layering (putting a taller climber and a shorter shrub next to the arch, so they bloom at different levels) is appealing. If CPM gets tall enough to make it to the top of the arch in your area, then you could plant Golden Celebration on each side as well, so you'd have super fragrant yellow roses at a lower altitude as well.

Where are you going to put the gazebo? Agree with others to go bigger and taller with a pergola, arbor or even consider putting the gazebo near the fence to block view of neighbor's house.

David, it's basically making a narrow arbor in front of the white fence, but with only one set of posts, using bracing at the top to support the narrow arbor overhead. I envision the roses falling off part of the arbor and covering the view of the neighbors. The roses can climb up the post as if it's a pillar. Of course, you could always use two supports at the ends and use double the roses even putting some sort of trelling between the two.