Several pieces in our bird house range include hanging chimes, and whether that is a feature or a problem depends almost entirely on where you put them. This is a decision people make casually at the point of purchase and then live with daily, which is the wrong way round. The difference between a sound you enjoy and one you resent is not the object but the siting, and the underlying principle applies to water features and anything else that makes noise outdoors. This article covers what garden sound actually does, when it goes wrong, and how to keep it occasional. The range is in our bird house collection.
Key takeaways
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Intermittent is restful, constant is not | Sound that stops gives the ear relief. Sound that does not becomes the thing you are trying not to hear. |
| Exposed sites make chimes constant | Steady wind means continuous sound, which is what turns a feature into a nuisance. |
| Neighbours hear them too | Chimes carry well beyond a boundary, and this is a common cause of complaints. |
| Site where gusts reach, not steady wind | Under a canopy, in the lee of a wall, or within a hedge. |
| Chimes can usually be removed | They hang below the body, so a piece can become silent if the sound does not suit. |
What sound does in a garden
It occupies attention that would otherwise go to whatever else you can hear.
In a British garden the background is frequently traffic, a neighbour's television, an air source heat pump or someone else's mower. None of those is pleasant and all of them are intermittent enough to keep drawing attention.
A gentle sound in the foreground gives the ear something else to attend to. That is why water features and chimes are popular, and it is a genuine effect rather than a decorative claim.
The key word is intermittent. Sound that stops is restful, because the stopping is what the ear notices. Sound that does not stop becomes the thing you are trying not to hear, which is the opposite of the intention.
When chimes go wrong
Four situations, and they are predictable enough to plan around.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| An exposed site | Constant wind means constant sound, and constant is what turns pleasant into irritating within a week |
| Near a bedroom window | Obvious in hindsight and frequently discovered at three in the morning |
| Too close to a seating area | Sound you cannot get away from while eating or reading is not restful |
| In a terrace | Neighbours hear them whenever the wind blows, which is the one that causes actual disputes |
The neighbour question
Worth being direct about, because it is the consideration people skip.
Chimes are audible well beyond your boundary. In a British terrace or a semi with small gardens, that means your neighbours hear them whenever the wind blows, including at night and including on days when they have their windows open and you do not.
Persistent noise is among the more common causes of neighbour complaints, and wind chimes appear in that category more often than people expect. It is one of those things that is trivially easy to avoid at the point of installation and genuinely awkward to resolve afterwards.
If your gardens are small and close together, site the chimes away from the boundary, low rather than high, and where a fence or a hedge sits between them and the next property. Sound at low level behind a solid barrier carries considerably less.
How to make the sound occasional
Site them somewhere that catches gusts rather than steady wind. This is the whole technique.
Under a canopy, in the lee of a wall, or within a hedge. In those positions the chimes sound when the wind picks up and stay silent otherwise, which is the difference between a punctuation and a soundtrack.
The mistake is a fully exposed position on a fence post facing the prevailing wind, which across most of Britain comes from the south west. That gives you continuous sound on any breezy day, which is most days.
A useful test is to stand where you plan to hang it on an ordinary day and notice whether you can feel steady air movement or only occasional gusts. Steady means the wrong spot.
Which pieces have chimes
The larger pieces in the range carry hanging chimes below the body, which adds both length and sound.
The square seagrass bird box with chimes at 49 by 15cm and the large round seagrass bird box with chimes at 56 by 20cm both have them, and the extra length is part of why they read from a distance where the smaller pieces do not.
The small round seagrass bird box and small square seagrass bird box at £10.99 have no chimes, which makes them the choice if you want the object without the sound. That is a legitimate preference and a common one.
The carved tree trunk houses, the Wise Owl tree trunk bird house and Grumpy Old Man tree trunk bird house, are silent, which suits a garden where sound would be unwelcome.
Removing chimes
A practical option worth knowing before you decide against a piece you otherwise like.
The chimes hang below the body of the piece, and they can generally be removed if the sound turns out not to suit the position or the household.
Keep them rather than discarding, since a position that is too windy in an open garden may be exactly right somewhere sheltered, and you may move house. A set of chimes in a shed costs nothing to store.
It also means a piece bought for its appearance is not ruled out by a garden that would make the chimes constant.
The alternative sound
If you want sound in a garden without depending on wind, water is the other option and it behaves completely differently.
Water is continuous and predictable. Chimes are intermittent and weather driven. Neither is better and they solve different problems.
Continuous sound suits masking a persistent background such as traffic, because a steady sound covers another steady sound effectively. Intermittent sound suits a garden that is already quiet, where a constant noise would be an imposition rather than a relief.
Deciding which problem you have is the useful step, and most people have the first one without having identified it.
Bring that calm into your home with Rootandstill
Our bird house collection carries pieces with and without chimes, so the choice is available rather than forced.
The square seagrass bird box with chimes at £15.99 and the large round seagrass bird box with chimes at £17.99 include hanging chimes and suit a sheltered position where the sound stays occasional. The small round seagrass bird box and small square seagrass bird box at £10.99 are silent.
For a garden where an object should be seen rather than heard, the Wise Owl tree trunk bird house at £43.99 and Grumpy Old Man tree trunk bird house at £47.99 are carved and silent, and our garden statue collection covers ground level focal points.
FAQ
Are garden chimes a good idea?
When the sound stays occasional rather than constant. Sound that stops is restful, and sound that does not becomes the thing you are trying not to hear.
Where should I hang chimes?
Somewhere that catches gusts rather than steady wind. Under a canopy, in the lee of a wall, or within a hedge rather than exposed on a fence post.
Will my neighbours hear them?
Very likely in a terrace or a semi. Site them away from the boundary and low rather than high, with a fence or hedge between.
Which bird houses have chimes?
The larger pieces at £15.99 and £17.99. The small round and square at £10.99 are silent, as are the carved tree trunk houses.
Can chimes be removed?
Generally yes, since they hang below the body. Keep them rather than discarding, in case a more sheltered position suits later.
