Garden Lighting: The Do's and Don'ts
When it comes to illuminating your garden it’s better to choose for a subtle effect instead of going overboard. Unless you’re preparing for a garden party, you don’t want your garden to look too busy lighting-up so avoid too many fixtures. Just one well-placed light can have a beautiful effect on your outdoor space. For example, by adding one spotlight under a tree you can instantly create the right amount of depth, atmosphere, and a sense of security. Less and better quality lighting is what you need.
Testing the illumination effect on this mature oak tree from a distance BEFORE we install the ground spotlight.
Functionality or aesthetics?
Fortunately, you don’t have to choose because illuminating your outdoor space serves both. Outdoor Lighting has many functions and purposes.
Facilitating access: You can add lights to make it easier to walk around your garden after dark hours. Along pathways, to mark out your driveway, walking up and down any stairs and steps to your house.
Improving security: To discourage people from entering the property uninvited. Leaving lights on in your garden works very well to deter burglars if you’re in a populated area or if you have neighbors. External lights can be very useful around the house and garden, a major deterrent against burglary.
Extending usability into the night time: Outdoor lights will bring indoor coziness to outdoor living. Think about it, comfy outdoor furniture, lovely evening flower scents, even a fire pit, and some good-mood lights. Wouldn’t you use your garden more if you could enjoy it at night? A cozy outdoors, even at night, means you have a more diverse use of the space and it will play a prominent role in your life and your connection with nature.
Aesthetics: Having the right lighting, you create ambiance, bring attention to a tree, define borders and edges. Beautiful lighting will enhance the natural beauty of your home on the outside but also on the inside. An illuminated garden to admire from the outside and also to enjoy while sitting inside. You can decide which areas in your landscape you need to highlight for the perfect aesthetic visual appeal.
To increase visibility for the outdoor stairs and to enhance the overall appeal of the garden we used adjustable spots to shine across the surface of the concrete steps.
How I work-The Do’s
I usually start with the access lights, I make sure the entrance drive and the entrance / front door have good lighting. Same for sheds, garages, and carports. Then the main garden paths and steps in the garden. I mostly use wall armatures and for the pathways, I use knee-height light poles.
Next, I look to accentuate and highlight the most interesting garden objects. A mature tree, a solitary shrub, an old brick wall, an art object, a water feature. Ground (adjustable) spots are perfect to illuminate garden objects.
For the seating areas, I work with subtle ambient or backlighting. To give you an idea, I often place wall armatures with downlights at the wall next to the seating area.
Remember, from dusk till dawn the right lighting will make your garden beautiful and functional. A well-placed light will attract attention for example on a specimen tree, not on the light fixture itself. Before you start you’ll need to decide first what areas you want to illuminate and then how much lighting you’ll need. Keep it simple.
How I Work-The Don’ts:
I often see LED ground spots installed on terrace floors. Ground spots are used to illuminate an elevated object, such as the crown of a tree. If there is nothing to reflect off it will have no effect or it can be blinding. So unless you have an interesting landscape detail to point out to avoid LED ground spots.
Always use good quality, durable outdoor lights installed by a professional electrician. And in a warm white or green colour, which is better for the insects. Using poor quality fixtures means more maintenance and eventually more trouble to replace.
LED lights versus solar lights: Quite often I get asked about solar lighting. It seems like a great option, they can be inexpensive and are easily installed. But the quality, durability, and energy output is still very disappointing. They are often made of cheap plastic and lamps with the extremely low light output. I wish for the future that some clever engineers will improve solar lights that it will become a good alternative to use.
Maybe you have a garden or patio or pathway you want to illuminate to add some style, to feel safer, or to be able to enjoy your garden during the evening. Whatever the reason, adding lighting to your outdoor areas makes your space safer, comfortable, and beautiful to look at at night. Proper illumination will transform your outdoor space into a gorgeous night garden.
More Tips & Advice?
If you need help with getting your garden projects going, or if you’d like to find out which improvements will work for your space, contact Botaniq for a consultation!
Content Editor Sofia Simeonidou