Garden Lighting is the single best way to extend the time you can spend relaxing outdoors. During the working week most of us only get to spend time outdoors in the evenings and if all that is there is a dark space there is little pleasure in it. A few well placed, well chosen lights can make all the difference.
Most garden designers spend a lot of time lighting a garden, both to make the best use of natural light and to extend its use into the evenings. Matthew Wilson summed it up beautifully “Without lighting, a garden is just an inaccessible, black space the moment the sun goes down. It’s rather like having a room in your house from which you’ve removed all the light bulbs.”
There are many choices from more traditional wired systems which should always be installed by a qualified electrician, through rechargeables to the newer and more environmentally friendly Solar powered lights.
Dandelion Solar Light D45cm
Lighting doesn’t have to be complicated – even a simple string of led fairy lights wound through a tree or bushes with bring a garden to life in the dark, giving it a magical appearance. Featured planters can be thrown into relief by a well placed spotlight and if you have a pond or water feature, the possibilities are endless.
Don’t neglect simple solutions such as tea lights in lanterns, quick and simple to place with the added advantage of insect repellent qualities if you choose the right tealights.
There are a few pointers that will stand you in good stead when choosing your lights – not least being that a little goes a long way. Using light to cause shade is very effective and a few well placed lights . Using flexible LED Spike lights means you can move them around to highlight an area of the garden that is at its best.
If you have steps in the garden and plan to wander around at night it is always wise to light them from a safety point of view if nothing else. Even a tea light in a simple holder will do the trick and is well worth the effort.
As well as lighting seating areas spend some time focusing on greenery and water features – interesting shadows and reflections give your garden a whole new aspect, changing it’s character to suit the mood.
Uplights are incredibly effective in bringing out the beauty of your trees in the dark – they make a dramatic statement, using a few well placed mirrors will increase the effectiveness of the lights, bouncing it around the area.
Even a few simple lights will extend the time you can spend in your garden – giving you a whole extra room for outdoor living.