Having outdoor garden lights can really revolutionise your garden, patio or backyard by creating a new magical environment, ensuring safety and increasing the amount of hours that you can use your garden at night.
Whether you intend to accentuate the beauty of your garden, set a perfect ambiance for aeration of numerous tasks out there or even render your garden as more useful during the night time, adequate lighting is crucial.
In this article you will learn about different kinds of garden outdoor lights, what are the advantages of using them, and what are the tips for effective use of these fixtures.
Outdoor garden lights are also known by the following categories.
Path Lights For Garden
Path lights are mini lights and are usually installed along paths, driveways or garden trails. They give off low-intensity light to guide one and avoid any instances of stumbling over objects.
Benefits
- Safety: Enhances visibility and also helps overcome any difficulty that may lead to an accident.
- Aesthetic Appeal: Improves garden appeal by pointing out directions such as walkways, borders of the garden.
- Guidance: This has to indicate where people take a walk to and is very noticeable.
Have a look at terrace gardening ideas.
String Lights For Garden
String lights or the fairy lights are portable decorations that can be hung on trees, Pergolas fences, and patios. They are available in many different forms, that is, sizes and even colors.
Benefits
- Versatility: It can be applied in a variety of ways because the solution comes in a variety of forms to give different outcomes.
- Ambiance: It brings a child-like and carnival-like appeal to any open space, very beautiful.
- Ease of Installation: Can easily be hung up and can also be moved around to fit the need at that particular moment.
Spotlights
They are a strong source of light which are used specifically to draw attention to some particular object or plant in your garden such as a statue or a tree. These emit thin rays of light.
Benefits
- Highlighting Features: It helps to draw visitors’ attention to the significant objects put in the garden.
- Security: May help to discourage intruders by applying light to the previously dark zones.
- Dramatic Effect: Helps in creating rather black and contrasting looks.
Also read about – Bamboo plant
Solar Lights For Garden
Solar lights operate on solar panels that collect power from the sun during the day and store it in batteries to give the garden a touch of light during the night. All these features are available in different patterns like; path lights, string lights and the spotlights.
Benefits
- Eco-Friendly: Depending on renewable energy sources, lowering the level of electricity utilization.
- Cost-Effective: Affordability because the major cost apart from purchasing is the operating cost.
- Easy Installation: Zero use of cables for electricity or other beams of light.
Hanging Lanterns For Garden
Lanterns can be of different types and can be either portable or fixed and can be of different designs such as the hanging lanterns, table lanterns and lanterns which are mounted on stakes.
They may use candles, light emitted by an LED, or energy from the burning of the sun.
Benefits
- Decorative: Makes it more charming and-transitional to look at as a garden view.
- Portable: Is mobile hence can be arranged in a way that will be fitting for different needs.
- Atmospheric Lighting: They give a warm and cheerful light.
You Should also know – Arrowhead plant
Deck and Step Lights
Path and shadow lights are fixed on to decking, steps, or run along the bare edges of the patio. They are used to act as sources of light to improve safety and visibility.
Benefits
- Safety: Reduces the risk and likelihood of persons tripping or slipping on stairs or any other rough surface.
- Aesthetic Integration: Incorporates easily into your laying pattern and weathers combines easily with the composite of your deck or patio.
- Discreet Lighting: It gives light without being necessarily bright enough to blind one’s eyes in the room.
Advantages of the outdoor garden lights
- Enhanced Aesthetics: Garden lights are also effective in changing the garden into a special place to view at night. Lighting if properly placed creates the kind of atmosphere that enhances the use of plants, water features and garden art and ornaments.
- Increased Safety and Security: Illumination of walkways, parking space, and approaches to buildings help in avoiding accidents and unlikely criminals. Less lit areas are not preferred by burglars thus they’ll avoid your compound altogether, visitors can easily navigate the garden at night.
- Extended Usability: Security lights illuminate your outside area in a similar manner to path lights so that you can enjoy evening barbecues, outdoor eating or evening strolls. This in turn increases the versatility of your garden and patio space to offer more chances of utilizing your exterior area.
- Energy Efficiency: Most of the current garden lights and specifically most of the solar lights are long lasting and friendly to the environment. They also help in cutting your carbon footprint, consumer bills on electricity and also offer sufficient illumination in your garden.
Here is japanese garden design.
Utilizing Outdoor Garden Lights
Some key do’s and don’ts that will come in handy when utilizing outdoor garden lights.
- Plan Your Lighting Design: It is important to decide the areas where one would wish to fix the lights as well as the characteristics of the area one wants to create. Reflect on what you want your garden sections like the walking path, sitting area, and important features to look like once they are lit.
- Mix and Match: It is recommended to have multiple source lighting in a room, that is, having different types of lights. Path lights for security, string or fairy light for beauty and spot lights for special attraction. With the use of different types of lighting, it makes the garden more versatile and people would have more reasons to stay longer in the garden.
- Consider Solar Options: For the best lighting that is both friendly to the environment and pocket-friendly, solar lights can be used. It is versatile in installation and operation and does not be associated with a hike in the electricity bill. Make sure that they are put in places where they can access bright light all day that charges them at night.
- Among them, timers and motion sensors: For outdoor lights, particularly the garden, timers and motion sensors are quite useful in switching the lights on and off. Timers help to switch lights on at a certain time and off while at the same time help in security by switching the light on when movement is detected.
- Focus on Key Areas: Lighting of important areas like the entry/exit, floor areas, chairs among others should be mainly emphasized. Make sure that these areas are well lit for security and by so doing guarantee their appropriateness. The most effective is to use the spotlights for emphasizing certain objects and make the right layout of the garden space.
- Choose Weather-Resistant Lights: Make sure that the lights which you install outside your home are those that are weatherproof. Choose pieces that can withstand harsh weather when selecting the lights to go on rainy, windy, and cold areas.
Conclusion
Garden lights are a great addition to any garden as it is able to beautify, secure and uphold the efficiency of the garden at night. Some of the types of lights include the path light, the string light among others depending on the required use and preference.
Even if just for sake of upgrading the ambiance of your outdoor living and dining area, carefully designing on your lights, alternating one type to another kind of lamp, even using the solar ones at that, you could assure of making your outdoor place a magical one that can be so beautiful at day time and even lovelier at night.
If you desire to get more information and detailed ideas about outdoor garden lighting, Houzz, HGTV, Better Homes & Gardens and the likes have wider galleries and tips for you. Spending some time and ideas on the garden lighting can prolong the beauty of the garden as it is a nice place to relax or spend time.
Consider Reading -
