Clever use of garden lighting will give you more enjoyment – and more value – from your garden. You can use subtle lighting to create atmosphere and mood for summer nights, and revel in your garden year round through the windows of your home by having it well lit.

You can illuminate stunning features, produce magical spaces and transform uninviting winter darkness into beautiful views.

“carefully positioned outdoor lighting ideas can play a central role”

— Homes & Gardens

In the words of Homes & Gardens: “As dusk descends, carefully positioned outdoor lighting ideas can play a central role, drawing attention to the texture and shape of plants or decorative features, and creating a sense of depth and space with the interplay of light and shadow.”

Here are our top seven tips for choosing the right garden lighting design:

1. Starting point

Base your lighting design on two factors: areas that can be highlighted for aesthetic reasons, like gorgeous sculptural planting, and areas you want to spotlight for practical purposes like outdoor dining.

Make use of multiple types of lighting for your design.

2. Showcase planting

Sophisticated, sculptural planting can be accentuated, adding drama with carefully placed lighting. You can also highlight the sculptural qualities of garden ornaments and architectural elements.

Uplighting is a very effective way to enhance planting, shrubs and special features as you showcase the shape and colour of leaves or artistic details

3. Glittering trees

Lighting up a tree next to water – a garden pond or lake – will give you wonderful shimmering reflections on the black, still surface.

In Alaster’s own front garden he has up lighting towards the canopy of a Maytenus boaria whose evergreen leaves are illuminated to create a warm hue. This contrasts with an up lit mult-istemmed Amelanchier lamarckii whose architectural form is partially illuminated.

4. Highlight spaces

As well as accent lighting, you can use lights to define boundaries and link diverse zones within a large garden. Experiment with placement and let your garden guide you to space your lights organically. While you may have a pattern in mind, your plants will show you where lighting will have best effect.

You might choose low lighting for ambiance and lanterns in areas for socialising, and remember that not every plant needs to be lit. Less is often more.

Leaving some areas in darkness is as important as illuminating others. Darkness creates depth in a design, and lighting just one side of a plant can produce a striking contrast.

5. Position carefully

Position creates markedly different effects when it comes to garden lighting. Lighting the front of a feature creates a wash; illuminating from behind casts it into silhouette; while side lighting helps define shape.

Play with variety: a wide beam of light will create a flood of light, while you will achieve a sharper effect with a narrow beam.

Lining paths with lighting that is disguised by planting during the day but provides a low glow to the gravel and granite setts after dark is a clever solution. All of the lighting can be managed with a controller connected to Wi-Fi.

6. Choose the right type of lighting

Warm white LED lighting works well for outdoor spaces – a colour temperature of 2700K to 3000K – creating a lovely golden light with a sense of cosy comfort.

For outdoor dining, strategically placed dimmable LED lighting coupled with inground lighting can create a floating feeling, while pendant lights illuminate the table and guests’ faces.

Battery operated (rechargeable) lanterns are a suitable option for placing at the centre of tables in the garden. There are plenty of beautifully crafted models available.

Companies like Flos offer premium lighting products such as the ‘Ipnos Outdoor’ which we have used in a number of projects for its architectural merit. These can be positioned on paved surfaces or within planting.

In fact, garden lighting is now incredibly varied, and whether your interiors are trending with a contemporary, rustic or industrial vibe there will be outdoor lighting to match!

7. SMART LIGHTING

Light symphony is a low-cost wireless control system that can be pre-programmed to switch on at dusk and off at a set time each night. They can also be manually operated via an app on your phone. The automatic setting for lighting will adjust depending on the time of year and day length. It is also possible to control the light output of some lights using the app.

If we can help you with your garden then please get in touch. You can reach us on 0207 305 7183 or email at enquire@alasteranderson.com