Pergola in the context of "Garden roses"

The Sala delle Asse (In English: 'room of the wooden planks'), is a large room in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, the location of a painting in tempera on plaster by Leonardo da Vinci, dating from about 1498. Its walls and vaulted ceiling are decorated with "intertwining plants with fruits and monochromes of roots and rocks" and a canopy created by sixteen trees.

The walls and ceiling are painted with a trompe-l'œil scheme depicting trunks, leaves, fruits, and knots, as if it was in the open air and not within a castle. Art historian Rocky Ruggiero describes the decoration of the square, fifteen-by-fifteen-meters room as creating the effect of a natural pergola as an architectural feature. Ruggiero suggests that Leonardo drew upon all of his scientific research into natural systems as he painted the masterful illusion that resembles a grove of mulberry trees.

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is control. The garden can incorporate both natural and artificial materials.

Gardens often have design features including statuary, follies, pergolas, trellises, stumperies, dry creek beds, and water features such as fountains, ponds (with or without fish), waterfalls or creeks. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while others also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas, or sometimes intermixed with the ornamental plants. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a pastime or self-sustenance rather than producing for sale, as in a market garden). Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, and fragrances to create interest and delight the senses.

A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts. Naturally occurring groves are typically small, perhaps a few acres at most, such as a sequoia grove. In contrast, orchards, which are normally intentional planting of trees, may be small or very large, like the apple orchards in Washington state, orange groves in Florida and olive groves in Australia.

A grove may be called an 'arbour' or 'arbor', which is not to be confused with the garden structure pergola, which also sometimes goes under that name. Other words for groups of trees include woodland, woodlot, thicket, and stand. Groves often contain plant and animal species that have become extinct in adjacent areas, and they harbor great genetic diversity. Therefore, they have become biodiversity hotspots, as various species seek refuge in the areas due to progressive habitat destruction.

Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice has been common in Europe since medieval times, and today is used in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a determined height or to place new shoots out of the reach of grazing animals.

In the past, people pollarded trees for fodder to feed livestock or for wood. Fodder pollards produced "pollard hay" for livestock feed; they were pruned every two to six years so as to maximize the leafy material. Wood pollards were pruned every eight to fifteen years, which produced upright poles favored for fencing and boat construction. Supple young willow or hazel branches may be harvested as material for weaving baskets, fences, and garden constructions such as bowers. Nowadays, the practice is sometimes used for ornamental trees, such as crape myrtles in southern states of the US.