Did you know that the decorative shine of stainless steel gazing balls can spice up your lawn with both style AND an entirely renewable resource that helps your garden grow?
Science tells us that Electroculture, which involves the use of electricity and magnetism, can be nearly as effective as fertilizer for bringing new life and health to your growing goods.
Read on to learn how these lovely, shining baubles can make your garden thrive like never before.
Is it possible that garden spheres also known as garden gazing globes can do a lot more than improve your outdoor decor and garden aesthetics.
Besides making your garden look good, stainless steel gazing balls also improve the health of your garden vegetation; but more of that in a while.
Among other things, this brand of yard globes will improve your garden’s well being and last for years.
For this reason, these garden globes otherwise known as mirror balls, are nothing like the cheap alternatives exclusively used as garden decorations.
Yes, Gazing Balls Can Better Your Garden’s Health
You are probably wondering, how would weather-resistant gazing balls make your garden healthier?
Well, here’s how: steel gazing balls have this ability for a number of reasons. For one, they are very durable, shiny, and of course, very visually rewarding.
Furthermore, the steel material makes them magnets for static charges. It is this particular attribute that makes these glazing balls and stainless steel globes so unique, and lets them keep your garden healthier.
The charge in the gazing balls makes the air around them to have a higher proportion of nitrogen, up to about 78%. This nitrogen increase is what makes your garden healthier.
You probably noticed this same effect with thunderstorms, whereby vegetation looks greener after thunderstorms occur.
Many people mistakenly assume that rain is the reason for vibrant green look on the plants, but could it be actually the lightning and it’s extremely high voltage that is responsible for the bright new green color ball.
You see, the charge from the lightning results in increased nitrogen levels, which, as mentioned above makes plants healthier. There is even a name for this process: electroculture
A gazing globe riding a bike – PlantCareToday.com
When Did Electroculture Begin?
The concept of using electricity to improve a garden’s health actually goes back as far as the seventies.
Unfortunately, its real significance to gardening was not properly understood until much later. Moreover, attempts to implement electroculture at the time proved to be tedious and dangerous.
The whole process failed as an experiment in advanced gardening. In fact, the idea was abandoned altogether, until gazing balls offered gardeners a new, safer, and more effective way to implement electroculture.
There could not be a better time to stop the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
These farming chemicals have led to the endangerment or the extinction of many species, including the Bald Eagle, frogs, and many others; and that’s not even considering the long-term impacts of these chemicals.
Our nuance eco-system is now out of whack, and things will probably get worse over time as people continue to use these chemicals.
But you can do your part by reducing your footprint on the environment through the use of gazing balls.
Yard globes and gazing balls have a way of ensuring that your plants get the nutrients they require.
All without the need to resort to dangerous chemicals that ultimately seep into the soil and water sources, damaging the environment on a massive scale.
So, the less of these chemicals we use for our gardening, the better off our environment will be.
Decorative Lawn Ornaments and Garden Art … Yet Valuable!
A tough economic climate is putting pressure on many people, including gardeners. Growing your own vegetables is now a more attractive and increasingly necessary option.
Unfortunately, employing a gardener to come over every other week to maintain your garden to keep it looking neat is not as affordable an option as it was in the past.
And let’s face it, green thumbs are not that common either, which means your attempts at keeping your garden healthy might not be as successful as you might have expected.
Actually, chances are that you are wishing you had a gardener, but your budget just can’t take it.
But the good news is that gazing balls (amazon) will make your work much easier. They may become your “trick” to finally seeing positive results from your gardening efforts.
In fact, stainless steel gazing balls were made precisely for that purpose. Beautiful, cheaper than fertilizer, and perfectly safe for the environment.
The balls just use the air in the environment to make the plants healthier. All you will need to do is rub them to a shine with a soft cloth every once in a while and you are good to go.
A typical garden only needs two or three of these bad boys.
Once you have them located optimally around your garden or yard, they will immediately get to work by enhancing the nitrogen content around your garden.
Nature will take its course from there and you can expect healthier plants.
So, get yourself a gazing ball today for a healthier garden and environment!
This gazing ball lights up a night! | image PlantCareToday
More About Garden Gazing Balls – Their Origin, Care And Use
Gazing balls make a pretty addition to any floral garden setting, however some people confuse their meaning, use, and origins. Some common questions and concerns about gazing balls include:
- Where did gazing globes come from?
- Are gazing balls the same as crystal balls?
- Will adding glass garden balls to your garden conflict with your personal or religious beliefs?
- How and why should you use these yard globes?
- Should you use a “gazing globe stand” to display a garden ball?
Let’s explore the history of this popular garden ornament and address these timely topics.
Buried Gazing Balls In the butterfly exhibit at Brookside Gardens – Jennifer Boyer via flickr
About Gazing Balls, Gazing Globes Where Did It Come From?
By all accounts, these pretty glass ball ornaments had their origins in the 13th century in Italy. Originally made from blown-glass artisans in Venice, they quickly caught on as garden decorations.
Upon seeing them, various members of European royalty decided that these “garden gazing globes” held some spiritual, magical, and mystical powers.
They placed gazing balls around gardens and as home decor as a good luck charm, a form of blessing, and more. Soon the mosaic gazing globe became a very popular craze throughout Europe.
Because these garden globes became so widely used in so many settings, these pretty “garden glass ball ornaments” acquired many names. You may hear the gazing ball referred to as:
- Globe of Happiness
- Gazing Globe
- Garden Globe
- Butler Ball
- Mirror Ball
- Fairy Ball
- Witch Ball
- Yard Globe
- Lawn Globe
- Gazing Sphere
- Garden Sphere
It is important to understand that these terms refer to the same pretty, decorative bauble.
If you are more comfortable calling your garden ornament a “globe of happiness” than a “witch ball,” you are well within your rights to do so. It’s all one and the same.
Early Uses Of The Globe Of Happiness
Protection
Early on people thought that a strategically placed “witch ball” could protect its owner from witches, ghosts, evil spirits, ne’er-do-wells, and illness.
To fill these big expectations, gazing ball of all sizes, shapes, and colors found themselves placed in gardens, by gate-posts, near home entrances and windows, and so forth.
People believed the garden gazing globe provided “good luck” and could keep out witches and other magical malcontents by entrapping them (or frightening them away) with their own reflection. How they planned to guard against human, bacterial, and viral threats we don’t know.
Attracting Good: Alternately, many people in Victorian times came to believe that “gazing balls” could attract good spirits, such as fairies. Indeed, this is the whimsical reason many people give for placing these pretty baubles prominently in the garden even today.
Prosperity
Members of royalty in the Netherlands and France especially thought that placing garden globes throughout the palace gardens would draw wealth.
Gazing Balls Become A Status Symbol
When the gazing ball trend migrated to the US, the placing of an ostentatious, decorative ball in the front garden became a status symbol.
Meditation
The reflective, shiny surface and circular shape of a gazing ball are conducive to meditation. In early days of the “gazing globe” some held the belief that focusing intently on the center of the ball would put the gazer in touch with the center of the universe.
Practical Communication
Victorian servants devised another popular use for gazing balls. They found their reflective properties enabled servants to use a well-placed ball much like we use security mirrors today.
By placing the gazing ball on a stand or table near the dining room door, servants could see what was happening in the dining room without having to disturb the diners. This enabled them to glide silently and inconspicuously into the room to remove empty plates, refill glasses, and so on.
When used this way, these decorative items go under the name of “Butler Balls.” In the deep south, a variation of this practice gave rise to the placement of mirror balls on porch railings to enable servants to keep a watchful eye on iced tea glasses.
Spying
The value of mirror balls as a tool for looking around corners also made them invaluable for spying on faithless lovers and others. Parents wishing to unobtrusively chaperone young couples also found these reflective globes quite useful in Victorian times.
Christmas Ornaments
The Bavarian king, Ludwig, found himself especially enamored with “Globes of Happiness” and had multitudes of them made in all shapes, sizes, and colors to add ornamentation to his palace and gardens. His use of the gazing globe as holiday ornaments was the start of our Christmas tradition.
Attract Birds
Reflective mirrored balls placed near birdbaths and feeders can attract birds as they apparently believe their own reflections are other birds.
What Do Gazing Globes Look Like?
In the old days, gazing globes (best sellers at Amazon) were always made of hand-blown glass and came in a variety of colors and sizes.
Glass with an iridescent quality provided extra luster. You can still find this original type of gazing globes available today.
However, construction of a gazing globe now includes metal, metallic-look plastic materials even bowling balls. Available hand-painted gazing globes make for attractive designs.
You can custom order specialized designed globes of art if you desire along with very pricey, handmade mosaic glass balls from specialty and import houses.
On the other hand, you can pick up inexpensive versions at dollar stores and garden centers. You can find an array of garden globes to suit every setting and budget.
As a side note. A hardcover book of Gazing Ball Paintings by Jeff Koons with text by Joachim Pissarro and Donatien Grau was scheduled for publication December 26, 2017.
Is A Gazing Ball The Same As A Crystal Ball?
In a word, “No!” There are several important and obvious physical differences between gazing balls and crystal balls, such as:
A gazing globe is hollow. A crystal ball is solid. The word “crystal” from the Greek means “solid ice.” Crystal balls are typically made of solid glass, large specimens of semi-transparent crystal, lead crystal, or reconstituted crystal.
A gazing ball can be any color. A crystal ball is clear. Gazing balls made of blown glass or other “shell” materials come painted, colored, semi-opaque, or completely opaque. Crystal balls are transparent – or nearly so.
In terms of purpose, today, lawn globes are mainly considered decorative. Crystal balls can also be considered decorative; however, some people still use them for “scrying” or looking into the future.
Gazing balls also have some stated spiritual uses in terms of spirit catching, warding off evil spirits, attracting fairies, and drawing prosperity and good luck.
Both gazing balls and crystal balls find use in meditation, which puts us in touch with the subconscious mind. This effect may go far toward explaining any mystical or magical traits perceived in either object.
Can I Make Use Of A Gazing Globe Conflict With My Spiritual Or Ethical Principles?
Any object can interfere with your ethical or spiritual principles if you allow it to. Gazing balls find themselves among this crowd. Your intent determines the outcome of your use of an object.
If the idea of warding off evil spirits and capturing witches frightens you, witch balls might not be a good thing for you to have around. Likewise, if the idea of seeing the future in reflective objects frightens you, avoid crystal balls. Realize other reflective objects such as mirrors and water are also used for this purpose as well. Therefore, take care with those objects, as well!
By the way, if your train of thought goes down this path, avoid any contact with cracked lawn gazing globes, you might find yourself at risk of encountering the wrath of formerly entrapped witches and evil spirits.
On the other hand, if you think globes of happiness are pretty and find their history interesting, you should be able to collect them happily and experience no ill effects. The same holds true of crystal balls, mirrors, and water.
If your spiritual, ethical, and religious beliefs are strong and you are sensible, you need not fear compromise by inanimate objects. The results you experience are inextricably woven with your own perspective, expectations, and intentions. If you like pretty glass gazing globes, there is no reason why you should not have one (or more). Call it a globe of happiness and enjoy it!
How Do You Take Care Of A Garden Globe?
With so many choices in pretty garden globes made of durable materials, care of your ornament should be quite simple. A garden globe made of resin or metal with black powder-coated finish metal can stay in outdoor spaces year-round with just an occasional spray of the hose and wipe down to keep it clean and shiny.
Glass globes can be kept sparkling using standard glass cleaners. These breakable globes should be brought indoors during the winter months as changes in temperature can cause cracking, and broken glass presents a safety hazard. And of course, you certainly wouldn’t want to risk the potential release of captive witches and evil spirits!
source: thegardenglove
Gazing ball in the majesty of winter – via Fred Ortlip flickr
9 Ways To Display A Garden Globe?
Gazing balls and stands look enchanting in almost any setting. This sort of year-round ornamentation is especially nice to bring wintertime interest to your perennial flower garden.
Use your imagination to display your decorative work of art to its best advantage. Here are a few ideas you could try:
- Set a gazing ball on a small pedestal in the center of your birdbath.
- Support garden globes among some pretty rocks in your garden.
- Set a globe on a plant or specially made gazing globe stand amongst your potted plants.
- Purchase a special wrought iron, stainless steel, metal stand, or pedestal. You may even find a gazing ball stand with a beautiful scroll design.
- Place gazing globes among fountains and statues with flowing water.
- Float a gazing ball in a pond or other water feature.
- Display the ball in a pretty, shallow bowl.
- Nestle a gazing ball directly among your plants.
- Hang it in a woven plant hanger.
Really, any setting that allows your gazing ball to be seen and to catch the light will surely be a success.
When placing your garden globe, take its durability into account. If it is fragile, place it in an area where it is not likely to be jostled and broken and give you “good luck”.
Place your gazing ball in a central location in your garden to reflect the whole garden and the sky above.
This is the perfect use of your globe of happiness as a focal point to bring an image of the world around you into clear, concentrated focus.