Patio Garden enhanced by Outdoor Lighting
Lighting up the garden at night is now nearly always incorporated into new Garden Design’s. It allows the garden to be enjoyed at night whether from within or when viewed from the house. A lot of new houses or extensions to existing houses incorporate large feature windows overlooking the garden, often from wall to wall and ceiling to floor. The garden is then on view completely during the day and night. Garden lighting at night helps to create an outdoor room effect, drawing the house out into the garden and allowing it to be enjoyed all year around.
Garden lighting can be used in a number of roles in the garden, for security, safe access, to light up an area for use and for ornamental effect.
Security lighting is often triggered by the intruder but the ability to switch off this ability when enjoying the garden at night is essential, otherwise every time you reach for your glass of wine you will be blinded by flood lights.
Safe access includes lighting up pathways, driveways, entrances and steps. There are many attractive options available to light up pathways, including bollards and walk over or drive over recessed up lights. Step lighting can be achieved by fixing recess lights into the flanking walls or step risers and there are many options available on the market for this purpose including ones with ‘eyelid’ hoods that hide the light source but still graze the step with light.
In order to enjoy the garden at night for dining or BBQ’ing, lighting is required to light up these areas. Normally, this is achieved by wall mounted lights on the house or adjacent walls.
Finally, to create an atmospheric enjoyable space for outdoor entertainment or just pure enjoyment, ornamental garden lighting of garden features, focal points, plants or trees, patio’s or walls is required. This is achieved by many effects but the main methods are up lighting, downlighting and spotlighting. There is a range of garden lighting products on the market to create these effects. Simple spotlights for lighting up special plants, trees or features which can be moved a little bit to re-position them where needed to create the right effect. Uplighters, downlighters or up/down lighters can be fixed onto walls to highlight either the wall itself or something positioned below or above it. Special mention has to be made about lighting up water features which can involve using underwater lights together with the techniques mentioned above.
Finally, introducing colour into the garden via lighting can create wonderful effects and coloured bulbs are available for many fittings these days. Simple white lighting always works well and is a safe bet, however, if you want to branch out my next favourite would be blue which i believe works really well outside and compliments the colour of most plants beautifully. There are also, some un-usual and funky lights for use outside on the market if you want something different! Go on….introduce some garden lighting into your garden and enjoy your garden whether from within our when viewed from the windows of your house.
Tagged: Garden Lighting
