Outdoor Swings

Outdoor Swings have an enjoyable gentle swing.

Outdoor Swings with their enjoyable gentle swing or gliding movement are what outdoor living is all about. Enjoyable fun times preferably shared with friends or family.

It doesn’t matter whether your swing is situated on the patio, deck, porch or just free standing in the garden; what really counts is that your swing is strong enough and practical enough; and that it is  placed in a spot where it will be used often.

There are a number of styles of swing available and these need to be considered before you buy.

Some swings are made for individuals while others are made for more than one person; some are designed to be mounted on a wall or hung from some secure high point, while there are others which are free standing.

Also to be considered are the different materials which may be used for the various swings.

Three broad types of Outdoor Swings.

If we look at three broad types of Outdoor Swings we can gain some idea of the various options available. This is not exhaustive as there are many others but we will look at broad categories.

• Patio Swing

The Patio swing is a term which covers what is a really wide range of outdoor swings, it describes a swing which free standing with its own A- frame support structure and often comes with an attached canopy over the swing.

The swing is able to be situated anywhere there is a flat surface and is often found in the actual garden itself.

The construction of the swing allows a reasonably large degree of movement and the seats come as benches suitable for two or more people or as individual seats.

A patio swing is similar to a children’s play yard swing except that the childs swing usually has a wider range of swing movement (well the kids like that).

• Outdoor Glider (porch glider)

Like a bench seat with a frame that supports the ends and allows back and forth movement, is the best description of an Outdoor Glider.

These are found in the actual garden or on patios and porches all over the country.

The gentle back and forth sliding type motion in a rather restricted plane leads to the “glider” name,  because of their gentle movement they are suitable for people of any age and are great favorites with very many patio lovers.

Cedar timber is often the construction material of choice for the porch glider because it reflects the long time heritage of this design and timber suits the porch setting where  these modified outdoor swings are found.

When made of metal,the metal is often aluminum and the  metal frame is covered with nylon mesh fabric for the seat and seat back.

This cloth like material is much softer than the solid wooden type and these gliders are also much lighter and therefore easier to move if that is desired.

• Porch Swing

With the overhanging porch roof providing a convenient point of attachment, the porch swing was probably the first outdoor swing that wasn’t attached to the limb of a tree.

These swings are the classic design and are the swings seen in vintage movies and in old time photos.

Everyone had a porch where everyone gathered and everyone had a porch swing.

Traditionally made of wood this swing is supported by the actual porch structure.

If you have a covered patio or deck or perhaps a gazebo in the garden then you could use this type of swing there, or maybe in the garden there is still a convenient and suitable tree limb.

Usually hung by chains or rope the porch swing has a fair degree of movement which means some supervision of children may be needed.

While timber is traditional there are many examples of porch swing using modern materials such as metal and even resin wicker.

This is just a brief outline of some of the type of Outdoor Swings available, if you search the internet you will find many more variations and even some brabd new ideas for Outdoor Swings .