Garden sundialsnot only show the current time, but most of all they can be a very interesting and original element of small garden architecture. Currently, such clocks are virtually unheard of in private gardens, and the designers of the gardens have probably forgotten about them. Therefore, we encourage you to design the garden in such a way that there is a place in it forsundialThe inspiration for writing this article was a large collection of sundials located in the Lodz Botanical Garden on the Nature Time-Space educational path. "
The flower clock is a particularly picturesque sundial
Time is a very abstract and relative concept, to which man has devoted a lot of research and classification attempts. It has always accompanied the world, and scientists from various fields have argued about it more than once. It cannot be touched, seen or clearly defined. Nevertheless, we really want to know how long it is. Man has long strived to achieve the most precise measurement of time, so he began to experiment. Thanks to this, clocks were created that indicate time with the help of the sun.
The first suchsundialsprobably come from the period around 1000 - 700 BC and they arose in Egypt. They were ordinary piles driven into the ground, and time was measured by the length of the shadow they cast. The measurement with this primitive method was not accurate. It was not until around 700 BCE that a clock similar to the one we know today was created. A sloping arm (gnomon) was constructed, which, taking into account geographic location, measures time with the appropriate angle of the pointer and its shadow on the scale.
Garden clock on a stone. The one presented in the photo is the equatorial clock. The scale of this clock is on a plane parallel to the Earth's equator. This is one of the simplest sundials
Types of sundials
Work on time measurement continued, of course, so the constructionof the sundialwas getting more and more complex and precise. One of the most complex timers of this type is the multiple timer. It is a polygonal structure that can accommodate several types of sundials simultaneously. Each of them faces a different side of the world, and the greatest challenge for its creators is that they all indicate exactly the same time.
Another example forsundialswith complex the construction is an analematic clock where the measurement of time takes into account the difference between true and mean solar time.A special chart is used for this, created from year-round observations of the sun. Here the hand of the clock is the observer himself, who, standing in a strictly marked place, casts a shadow indicating the hour.
Sundial - obelisk with analema
The most famous are, however, two types of clocks:
1)horizontal sundials(horizontal)
2)vertical sundials(vertical).The latter are constructed on various buildings, e.g. church towers or house walls. We will take a closer look at the former, as they most often function in gardens, parks or public places.
A multiple clock is a polygonal structure that can accommodate several types of sundials simultaneously
How to Make a Garden Sundial
A horizontal sundial(horizontal) is one whose face is any completely flat surface (not necessarily large).The pointer (gnomon), on the other hand, must be placed at an appropriate angle to this plane. This angle determines the latitude of the place where we construct the sundial. In addition, make sure that it is exactly above the North-South line (helpful compass) and tilted to the north. It is extremely important for the correct operation of the clock, because for each latitude, noon falls at a slightly different time, i.e. the moment of the highest position of the sun in the sky. operates for as many hours as possible during the day (preferably from dawn to dusk). It is much more difficult to correctly mark the hours on the dial, as we cannot do it according to the indication of the watch on the hand. Then the reading from the sundial would not be correct.
The sundialindicates the local solar time, which differs from the official one depending on where we are.To simplify it, we can assume that 12 o'clock (of course after the appropriate marking) is on the horizontal north-south line and is marked by the needle pointing to the north. The following hours are arranged radiating around the gnomon, and the difference between the lines that indicate them is 15 degrees. The exception is the vertical clock, where the distances between the lines are not equal.When looking at the chart from above, in the area between midnight and east we mark afternoon hours, and between west and midnight we mark morning hours. A very simplified diagram is shown below.
Solar clock diagram:
1. Horizontal North-South line
2. Inclined hand - gnomon
3. The angle of connection of the pointer with the ground (equal to the latitude)
4. Perpendicular horizontal line east-west
5. Appointed hour. 12:00
6. Designated remaining hours (here in the morning)
The clock faces can be constructed only in half, from 6.00 a.m. to 6.00 pm. But we can also plot the entire dial, and on very bright nights try to read the time with the help of the moonlight. If we decide to makegarden sundialourselves, we can also use our own imagination to some extent. While maintaining the basic construction rules of the tip, we can add additional decorative elements (not affecting the readability of the indications).
We can also use different types of substrate forgarden sundial . A flat stone, a fragment of a terrace or a part of a flat area will be perfect for this purpose. If the dial is the ground, we can integrate colorful plants between the individual hourly displays. However, it should be remembered that they should be low and not interfere with the clock indications. Regardless of whether we makegarden sundialby ourselves or buy a ready one, it will surely become an extremely attractive element of our garden.Perhaps it will also be an inspiration to delve into the secrets of knowledge in the field of space-time, physics and astronomy.
Katarzyna Józefowicz
