Essential Tips for Beautiful Garden Lighting

Lighting has the remarkable ability to transform a garden from a mere outdoor space into a spectacularly beautiful oasis. It's not just about visibility; it's about creating a breath-taking visual experience. 

This is best illustrated in how some gardens are bathed in ultra-bright light from a single floodlight. In contrast, others take time to plan and carefully consider installing lighting features across the outdoor environment to create something spectacular.

Planning is key when it comes to DIY lighting in your garden. While larger and more complex spaces might require professional help, there are ways for anyone to easily transform their garden into an amazing outdoor space with the right planning and execution.

So, with this in mind, here’s a quick look at a few tips for getting the most out of your garden and, indeed the lighting you install:

Focus on Features
We need to remember about the garden as a whole and to begin thinking of its primary features and most attractive features as separate entities. You may have certain plants or trees that you consider to be the centrepiece of the garden or one specific area which is your favourite place to sit and relax. Focus your efforts on these features as the way they are illuminated will bring them to life, creating a feature and talking point of your garden.

Create Atmosphere
Think about the mood and atmosphere you would like to create in your garden. It is much better to know in advance what kind of atmosphere and mood you would like to create, and this is best done in the early planning stages.

Keep It Restrained
Remember, less is more. With garden lighting, it’s not so much about what you decide to illuminate with light as it is about what you choose not to illuminate that will create depth, interest, and a balanced lighting scheme. 

When you are going about your plan, consider splitting the garden into a number of separate zones and focusing on one at a time with a unique plan for each.

Keep It Hidden
In some cases, hiding the light's source is more visually attractive. This is often easier said than done and isn’t always practical. Still, if you can light up any features in your garden without the light source being visible, the effect intensifies many times. In all instances, however, it is crucial to minimise or eliminate glare by ensuring the lighting sources are not pointed directly at a visitor viewing the garden. Indirect lighting techniques and anti-glare guards are simple and cost-effective methods of reducing uncomfortable glare. 

Silhouettes
Last but not least, deciding to bring lighting into your garden gives you a unique opportunity to play with bold shadows and silhouettes. A light source that either projects a dramatic shadow on another surface or one that is obscured by an object can, in turn, create impressive silhouettes and shadowing.

Experimenting with lighting in your garden can be a fun and creative process. It's not always easy, but it's one of the most enjoyable aspects of DIY lighting. Take your lighting sources and play with shadows or silhouettes across the garden to see how they look up close and from a distance.

To find out more about getting the most from your lighting, download our Definitive Guide To Lighting HERE.  It's incredibly user-friendly and includes lots of top tips, basics of indoor and outdoor lighting, all the technical stuff explained and our unique printable Walk Through Guide!