Swings add a touch of whimsy to backyard gardens.
Create homemade garden swings for your backyard with a single length of rope or make them fancier, with decorative outdoor pillows for comfort. Hang any swing from a thick tree branch or a sturdy A-frame stand. No matter where you hang your homemade backyard garden swings, spread mulch on the ground beneath, to soften unexpected landings. Does this Spark an idea?
Tire Swing
Make a homemade tire swing using regular, not steel-belted, tires, 3/8-inch link diameter hardened steel chains, heavy eye-bolts and chain connectors. Place the tire on its side and attach three heavy eye-bolts around the top, space the bolts equally apart. Attach 3- to 5-foot-long lengths of chain to each bolt, gather the chains together at the free end and slide them on a locking swivel hook. Attach a hanging chain to a sturdy tree branch and to the swivel hook via a connector. Drill several drainage holes around the perimeter of the underside of the tire swing so that water will not accumulate inside it. Spray the inside of the tire semi-annually with insect repellent to prevent nesting.
Tree Swing
Create a tree swing using a 3/4-inch-thick board, roughly 20 inches wide and 35 inches long, and sturdy rope. Drill a hole through each corner of the board, 2 inches away from the edges. The hole should be large enough to fit the rope through. Cut two equal lengths of rope, one for each side of the swing. Thread one end down through the top of one hole on the right side of the board, across the underside of the board between the two holes and up through the other hole on the right side. Pull the rope through the second hole 2 feet, then tie the rope to itself, 1-1/2 feet from the board to form a triangle. Do the same on the left side of the board with the second rope. Tie the ropes around a thick tree limb, or tie them to metal connector rings hanging from a limb.
Platform Swing
The construction style to make a backyard garden platform swing is similar to a tree swing, but the board is larger and you should use chains rather than rope to suspend the swing. Make the platform for the swing as large as you like, then drill a hole in each corner, 3 inches from the edges. Thread a length of 3/8-inch link diameter hardened steel chain through one of the two corner holes on the same side; the chain runs between the two holes on the underside of the platform. Pull it up through the second hole, and connect the end of the chain to itself with a chain connector a third of the way up the length of the hanging chain. Follow the same process to attach a chain to the opposite side of the platform, and then hang the joined chains from a swing stand. Fill the platform with pillows to complete the swing.
Rope Swing
Make a rope swing with or without a wooden seat to hang in your backyard garden. Thick, sturdy rope is the only requirement for strength-building fun, but if you wish to add a seat, you'll need a board and a drill. Tie knots every 1 to 2 feet along the bottom half of the rope, then tie the other end over a sturdy tree branch. To add a seat, drill a hole in a board, feed the rope down through the seat and knot the rope where you'd like to position the seat.
Tags: tree branch, 8-inch link, 8-inch link diameter, backyard garden, between holes