Try Costco for good deals. They have arbors on display now, and all kinds of patio furniture.

Home Depot has reasonable prices.

I've been looking for planters for a couple years. Wanted fiberglass for lightweight ease of use and no ceramic breaking. Searched online and prices were high. Kept shopping, looking everytime I went to any store or nursery. Behold, this month at Lowe's I found exactly what I was looking for! Green marbled 'carved' lovely planters, big, very handsome, light as a feather and indestructible, for $19.97 each.

Look around and keep looking. This is a good time of year to find what you want.

Thank you SO much, I had forgotten about Lowe's!! I looked online and found a decent one for only $68! Just what we needed!!! My husband had the afternoon off so he just went and picked it up!!

I saw the arbors at Costco, they look really nice but are fiberglass?/plastic, and I'm holding on to the hope we can do it in wood.

Our patio needs a lot of work, but we won't be able to do something major until at least next year, so this will be great- thank you so much!!

Sure thing; glad it worked for you. Bought this house May 2005 and shopping has become my identity, LOL It's sort of an adventure seeking out just the right item at a reasonable price.

Those big sturdy arbors at Costco may be aluminum. They've had some wonderful yardscaping products and some big things that would be great for a larger yard, like huge sheds, playhouses, ornate trellises, big fountains, lighting systems, etc.

Last year Costco had amazing deals on very healthy groundcovers and it was just when we were able to do that part of our yard so we saved a bundle. I'm eyeing those outdoor speakers that look like rocks but won't be unpacked enough to install them until next spring.

Heard that Home Depot and Lowe's were started by a feuding couple and Lowe's is supposed to be more woman-friendly. There's a Home Depot very close to our location so that's where we've done the most shopping and gotten some good trees and groundcovers there and lots of stuff for the inside of the house. We used to have to go there about 2X a day and now it's down to about once every 2 weeks, LOL

Progress! Have fun building up your patio just how you want it.

Pretty funny we bought this house 2 years ago too 4/30- our first! It's a pretty small house with a large yard, but we just got a puppy, so the "garden" is going in in pieces behind chicken wire for the time being.

We are sort of in the middle of a Home Depot and Lowe's- have found Lowe's to be more designery (is that a word?) we've found more decorative stuff that we like there. My husband loves to go to Home Depot and the prices are pretty good.

Can't wait for the IKEA to open!
Have fun!! and thanks again!!

I love Costco for home/garden improvement. We bought a $20 patio umbrella at Costco last year and it's still going strong. Our cheapo patio set from there is doing well, too. Most surprisingly, I got 6 wonderful perennials there for $19.95 and they are doing beautifully. I got two helianthemums at that price--that $3.33 each! Last year, the cheapest ones I could find were $12.99 each! I so wish they had more, but now they seem to have switched mostly to annuals.

We bought a $500 wooden patio furniture set from Lowe's in Fairview that fell apart in less than a year. Literally fell apart. Split, cracked and pieces of wood just fell off. It was under cover during winter.

They refused to replace it or refund us or give us store credit even though we had the receipt.

Said it wasn't supposed to go outside!!!!!

It was outside when we bought it....

I always buy my umbrellas and outdoor accessories on line. It is cheaper and I don't have to pay sales tax. I find huge bargains at this website:
http://ewins.com/press/

Here is a link that might be useful: bargains on outdoor accessories