Getting Garden Lighting Right

The garden is a place where a lot of us enjoy spending time in the day but I would think that less than 25% of people that spend their day in the garden spend time in their garden in the late evening after the sun has set. In the summer being outdoors when it is dark is a fantastic place to be, the temperature usually far more comfortable and you get to see a lot more wildlife that your wouldn’t normally see in the day. One of the main reasons that people do not spend time in their gardens after dark is because they have inadequate lighting. At a time where the vast majority of garden lighting is solar powered and therefore cheap to run and install there really is no excuse for not getting some lighting in your garden. This article takes a look at three factors to take in to account when you are lighting your garden:

 Any type of lighting that you have in your garden needs to provide some form of functional element. That means that you should provide lighting so that you can see what you are doing and you can see your guests. You don’t need a flood light or anything near as powerful as that, just something that gives a good ambient light lever. You can get some wonderful lanterns that hang from trees or pergolas and these provide a very nice ambient light source.

 One key element of any good outdoor lighting scheme is that it should adequately illuminate any hazards that are present in your garden. Remember that because something doesn’t present a hazard in the day, it doesn’t mean that it won’t present a hazard at night. Things like steps, edges of decking and water should all be illuminated at night. You don’t need to shine a light directly on to them, in many cases just low level lighting will suffice as it will draw your attention to the fact that there is something there that needs to be seen.

Although many people see decorative lighting as an after thought, it is actually a critical element to any garden lighting scheme. String lights provide a wonderful magical feel to any garden – they don’t do much functionally but if you weave them through the braches of trees and bigger plants along the length of you garden they look beautiful. Paper lanterns hanging from pergolas also add an extra dimension to your garden at night. The decorative factor of your outdoor lighting really should not be overlooked as it is more often than not the piece that attracts the most attention.

If you take the above in to account with you outdoor lighting design you are sure to end up with a garden that is a pleasure to spend time in and what’s more is a safer place to be when the sun has set.