Typically, a garden arch is asked to support quite a weight. A mature rose or honeysuckle is especially heavy, but any climber, once it is large enough to cover an arch, will put a strain on its support. Flimsy plastic or bamboo will never cut the mustard, and although wood and tubular steel may be satisfactory for a number of years, they will buckle or break in time. Particularly if they have been bolted together in sections! You then face the problem of attempting to replace the support without damaging or killing the plants. This is why we choose to make all our arches and tunnels of solid mild steel, which has the strength to last a lifetime.