Garden Style
Buy a weathervane – Fun, attractive, useful
Jul
We have a great collection of weathervanes from Espira, and they’re proving a popular choice. So why buy a weathervane? Whatever the size of your home or outbuilding, it’ll add an extra touch of interest and charm to the place – and it’s not just a pretty face. These are seriously useful things, too. Read on to discover the magical world of weathervanes.
Why buy a weathervane?
Why buy a weathervane? For a start, there’s the look. The models we sell are metal, made from quality brass, copper and steel. If you love the shine of the new copper you can preserve it for longer with a few coats of a good exterior varnish, and preserve the shine of the fresh brass with the same kind of polymer resin. The steel rod can be painted with Hammerite to keep it black. But for most people, the patina that gradually develops is actually the star of the show.
Left without a coating, or once the varnish wears off, brass and copper will develop a patina over time. The famous blue-green Verdigris tarnish you get with copper is gorgeous, making a vane look old in a stunning way, just like a Victorian original. Brass can go a similar colour along with rich browns and deep oranges.
You can speed up the copper Verdigris process if you like. Here are three ways to oxidise copper faster, one involving boiled eggs. How curious. Bear in mind you’ll need to do it before you fit the vane to the roof, or you’ll have a heck of a job doing it up a ladder!
The practical benefits of a weathervane
The practical side of weathervane life is just as cool as the look. You can follow the weather forecast but as every gardener knows, the immediate landscape or urban-scape around a garden affects the way the wind behaves. A high wall, a wind-tunnel of a road, an outbuilding, a stand of trees or a thick hedge, they can all change the localised wind direction, sending it in unexpected directions.
In our garden for example, one corner turns into hurricane alley whenever the wind blows from the east. While we don’t get an easterly wind often, it’s frequent enough to appreciate the services of our weathervane, which reminds us where to put the windbreaks, sail shades, dining set and sun loungers.
Knowing the wind direction at your place means you know exactly where to put your garden furniture – out of the wind rather than right in the teeth of it. And it means you’ll be able to place garden shelter and shade wisely for comfortable garden fun.
About our beautiful Espire weathervanes
Ours come with quality built-in, a classy way to add fun and function to an outdoor space.
- Polished copper features and spacing balls
- Brass Brass NSEW cardinal points
- A strong steel rotation rod
- Suits most homes and outbuildings, with a smaller and larger version for some models
- Standing at a total of around a metre high, depending on the design, the Farmhouse models are big and dramatic
- The Cottage models are smaller, best for outbuildings, garages, single-storey homes and small cottages
- Includes the right-sized Eave Mounting Bracket for simple, secure fixing
- Easy to assemble
- Fitting instructions provided
How to fit a weathervane to a building
The bracket you’ll need comes with the delivery, so there’s no worries finding the right size. You can fit the bracket either horizontally or vertically. For optimum functionality, fit the vane somewhere away from hedges, trees, buildings or anything else that might get in the way. Otherwise you won’t be able to tell the wind direction accurately, it’ll just be decorative. If you just want it for decor, that’s fine. It’s up to you what you use it for!
