How to Choose Garden Lighting

The garden is increasingly regarded as an additional living area, rather than an area purely for planting. Lighting may be purely functional or more atmospheric. It can extend the amount of time you are able to spend in the garden, as well as enhance your view of the garden from the house at night and when the weather is less kind. Garden centers and do-it-yourself stores have increased the range of garden lighting available, so a beautifully lit garden is no longer the exclusive preserve of the garden designer.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Choose lighting for safety. The first lighting consideration in most gardens is a practical one. At night you should be able to see your way clearly from the garden entrance to your front door. If there are any steps that are difficult to navigate safely in the dark, good lighting will greatly reduce the risk of accidents. However, do not install intense, isolated lights, such as spotlights, at potential accident spots. As you move from an area of bright light into sudden darkness, your eyes cannot make the adjustment quickly. Such areas need a broad spread of light.

2. Choose lighting for increased security. Strong illumination around the home is a proven deterrent to intruders. Floodlights with in-built passive infra-red detectors (PIRs) are widely available. Think carefully about where you place these lights. Although they are undoubtedly effective close to the door, it can be very irritating for both you and your neighbors if the light is placed so that it is constantly being activated by passers-by. Moving the light just a few feet to one side may mean that you will still be able to see clearly to get your key in the door, and would-be intruders are effectively deterred.

3. Choose lighting to extend garden use. When daylight hours grow shorter, there is no need to curtail the pleasures of patio living. Provide adequate light so that cooking and food preparation can continue comfortably, and you will find that outdoor entertaining can start earlier in the year and continue well into the fall.

4. Be selective with lights in entertaining areas. Although a simple floodlight fitted to the wall of the house will illuminate a wide area, the light given is not intimate or attractive. More appropriate would be specific lighting of the cooking and eating area, together with lighting to highlight particular points of visual interest around the garden. This may be as simple as a spotlight above the barbecue and lanterns around the table, or a more sophisticated arrangement of permanent lighting throughout the garden.

5. Choose lighting for effect. Anyone who has gazed out at the garden when it is illuminated for Christmas, even if the lighting is limited to a few fairy lights strung through a lone tree, will appreciate that lighting can increase your enjoyment of the garden, even when you are inside your home. This lighting for added mood is not the same as functional lighting.

6. Choose lighting to accent a garden feature. A single, silhouetted tree or pond with submerged lights may be all that is required to make an impact. Clear white light is generally best for retaining a naturalistic feel.

7. Avoid over lighting. An even wash of light over the whole garden will add nothing in terms of charm or romance. Mood lighting, as in the home, comes from distinctly separate areas of light, positioned carefully so as to illuminate features of particular interest. Less attractive features can be left darkened to recede into the shadows. Just as too many decorative features in a garden can fight for attention and give a busy, cluttered look, care should be taken when planning accent lighting. Too many, different types of light can give a disjointed appearance.

Tips & Warnings

• Reserve colored lights for special occasions, or you may end up with a garden that looks like a theme park.