Decorate Your Outdoor Spaces With Garden Chimes

Wind chimes have been used since Roman times – perhaps even earlier in the Orient – to catch the wind and frighten away evil spirits. Today, many people enjoy garden chimes as durable, weather-resistant decorations. They come in hundreds of commercial designs and in homemade versions that are as varied as the human imagination.

People who love gardening know that it is an artistic extension of themselves. They use plants as their medium, achieving their effects with contrasts of light and shadow, shape, texture, color, and fragrance. Gardens can be functional or romantic, formal or naturalistic, spartan or ebullient – whatever the homeowner wishes.

The pleasant sound of musical chiming adds another dimension to the pleasure of being outdoors. Nothing emphasizes a cool summer breeze like a collection of objects that are suspended in such a way that they come together to create musical sounds.

One often-seen style is an arrangement of hollow pipes or tubes, which give off clear notes that vary according to the length and weight of the individual cylinders. Some sets have a central clapper, while others depend on the impact of the tubes as the wind pushes them together. Careful craftsmanship can produce actual melodies from a collection of suspended items.

Materials can be almost anything that stands up to the weather. Metals include – but are not limited to – cast iron, steel, aluminum, copper, and brass. Glass produces a light, tinkling sound and catches light as well as the breeze. Bamboo is another traditional medium, being light enough to swing in the softest breath of air and extremely weather-resistant. It produces soft, muted sounds as compared to the clear notes of metals or glass.

Check online to see traditional and wildly original forms of garden chimes, which continue the long tradition of letting the wind play music in outdoor loving spaces. There are all kinds on display, from simple sets of hollow tubes to intricate mobiles featuring birds, sail boats, running horses, or other favorite themes. Others are unusual shapes, sizes, and colors that bring a modern touch to the traditional decoration.

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