Monday, August 16, 2010

Where to Place Garden Lights

The size of your garden will dtermine how many lights you can place around it. This seems like a straighforward point, but if you try to cram too many in a small space you will almost certainly overdo it. Sometimes less is more so to speak. Another determinant is the amount of features you already have, be it statues, walkways, decking, rockery, lawns windchimes and trees. All these things can be lit up at night, and knowing the layout of the garden will help to blend these features together when the sun goes down.

A good example is using one feature to bring out another. Using a spot light pointing upwards can highlight a row of flowers or plants, whilst also lighting a tree behind. You can position the lights at many angles to achieve this result, and it is best done during the day first as you can clearly see the important parts of your garden.

Adding outdoor lighting along paths and walkways can help to extenuate the edges of the path, but also illuminate any flowers that are planted next to them. Some plants do not like constant light at night, so be sure to check you don’t unknowingly damage any plants. If this is the case then point the light in another direction away from the leaves. Getting it just right can add some stylish garden decor to your back yard.

Placing lights next to water is also a great way to make them come to life. If you have a garden pond you can buy underwater lights that will shine from below and cast a faint aura on the rst of the garden. Moving water such a small waterfall or water running through a rock arrangement can be utilized to your advantage. Aiming the beam at thw water will create reflections that can light up the things nearby. Investing in color lighting can make the water appear in any color you can think of, and the changing color lights are an even better option. This will cascade the colors all around the garden and it is great to just sit down and watch the show.

Putting lighting inbetween rocks and stones will make it look like they are part of the scenery, and there are hundreds of mock rock lights that contain the fixtures inside to conceal them. Some solar lights have this designing, and they are a very simple solution for lighting rockery. They also look natural during the day which is an added bonus.

Decking lighting can help to complete the look, and create an almost fairytale ambience. Lights can be placed on the decking posts and rails for maximum exposure at an elevated position. For a very classical look you can build them into the wood of the decking, and this helps to protect them as well. The look is very unique and seemless, and is a favourite with many homeowners. The light can bring out the quality and shape of the wood, as well as different textures. They take a little more owrk to fit tem and install but the finished result is one of te best around, and will really set your garden apart from the rest.

You can hang lights from branches in trees, or on top of posts and fences. Thee are a popular place for parties, to add a bit more sparkle. Using a bit of natural height can help to expose more of your garden, and it also helps with security. This way you can bring the illusion of extra height by aiming the beam at other branches. To add some more depth you can arrange the garden lights all around the extremes of the yard. This will show the full size, which may not be visible in the dark.

Be careful not to create too much glare when placing outdoor lights, think carefully what you are going to expose. You may have a dirty old shed somewhere in the corner which you don’t want to epxose at night, so think about the beam direction and where it is going to. If you have some lights at the bottom of the yard them make sure they are not pointing directly back at the patio or decking where you are going to be spending most of your time. This will create an unwanted glare in your eyes, which will stop you from being able to see the rest of the garden in comfort.

Think about sunken lights not pointing directy upwards. This is hard to do, but try to put them at the edges so the beam is not going to be in your eyes. This can happen with decking or patio lights which are centrally placed. It can be very off putting with a light shining in your eyes all the time.


The only way to get the right placement is to experiment. You may not like what you have done the first time round, which is almost always the case. The good thing is that most garden lights are very easy to move about and install, they are lightweight and very durable, so puting them in all kins of unique places is not generally a problem. The only time you may struggle is if you have fitted the power cables to decking or wood. This is usual to hide these cables during the day, and to avoid tripping over them. In this case it is better to leave the final installation until after you have seen them in action at night. When your happy, then this is the time for the complete install.

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