Light up your life
Lighting is a quick and easy way to give your garden the wow factor. With very little expense or effort you can totally transform your outdoor space, creating your very own unique look.
The main rule with garden lighting is that less is more.
Perhaps you want to recapture those chill-out lounges in Ibiza? Add a flavour of Morocco with ornate globes and rich jewel colours? Create a fairy dell for children (of all ages) by wrapping fairy lights around tree trunks to create a touch of twinkly magic? Or simply frame a pathway with some low-level lighting – both for practical and aesthetic reasons. The world really is your oyster.
The main rule with garden lighting is that less is more – there is no need to turn the garden into a veritable al fresco disco. Keep it subtle for the most stylish and effective look.
Our main tip is that it’s possible to create two very different looks, uplighting & downlighting – both of which have their own characteristics and benefits. Downlighting (where the light is hung from above) casts a moon-like glow, and is good for trees & pergolas. Uplighting is great for showcasing specimen plants, water features & ornaments and really highlights the structure of the plant – it’s especially effective at casting some dramatic shadows if positioned near walls (as pictured).
There is a world of choice when it comes to colour too. Current fashion is for the LED bright-white look – this is certainly modern and creates slick clean lines. But there are areas of the garden where the more traditional warm-white would suit better, and contributes to a cozy glow. Of course, many lights are dimmable too, so you can really shape the kind of effect that suits your garden.
Installation of garden lighting is often considered invasive and complex, but it truly isn’t. Current technology allows control of the system to be managed remotely, either by switches inside or from phone via apps (like Wise Box). Most lighting on the market is future-proof as it’s so low-voltage - it emits less heat than it would have a couple of decades ago, and tends to be maintenance-free.