Light-up your garden
Make the most of your garden at this time of year by installing outdoor lighting, says Alan Titchmarsh, as he explains the effects you can create for maximum impact
Tools for the job
Garden lighting can transform an ordinary plot into something magical. By deliberately positioning various types of lamps, lanterns, candles, tea-lights, spotlights and garlands of lights, you can create a wide range of eye-catching effects and extend the time you spend in the garden. As dusk descends, and twilight turns to darkness, garden lighting comes into its own. You can flood light across patios and lawns to illuminate alfresco parties, or use strategically positioned lamps and spotlights to create gleaming pools that highlight interesting features, such as a statue, attractive seat or an architectural plant. You can also use lights to create an illuminated welcome at an entrance, make paths and steps safer to use, as well as providing overnight security. Post lights and glowing orbs are ideal for gently illuminating steps and paths, while garlands of lights look best strung around a seating area, through a pergola or between posts at the back of a border.
Essential kit
- Candles
- Tea-lights
- String-lights
- Lamps
- Lanterns
- Low-voltage kits
- Solar-powered kits
Paths, steps and entrances can be safely illuminated by a series of lanterns and lamps, and temporary ‘party lights’ will bring the patio to life during the evening. Around my own garden, I have installed spotlights to highlight a range of architectural plants and garden features as well as provide added security - with pond and fountain lights completing the light-show after dark.
Up-lights and down-lights Designing with lights in the garden is very much like using atmospheric lighting in the home, but outside the surrounding area will be pitch-black. You can use this to your advantage to hide unsightly features, such as bins, a compost heap or next-door’s garden shed, by a calculated manipulation of the outdoor lighting. The brighter the light the darker the black, so bear this in mind when trying to hide eyesores. Down-lighting is best for illuminating paths and steps, or for focusing a spot on an attractive feature or isolated seat. Up-lighting creates a completely different effect. If you place an up-light at the base of a silver birch tree it creates an upside-down fountain effect with a brilliant flaring trunk pointing into a sparkling canopy of white stems and shimmering leaves. Position the light behind the tree and suddenly it is transformed into a dark and somewhat sinister silhouette. Equally dramatic effects can be achieved with shrubs, statues and other garden features. For best results, obscure the light from view and set it slightly to one side to give a dramatic 3-D appearance.
Which type of lighting? You have the choice between mains-electricity, low-voltage, solar-powered and natural light to illuminate your garden.
- Mains electricity lights are more powerful, so can be used to light up large areas, but are more expensive and disruptive to install - especially away from the house. However, wall-mounted spotlights next to the back door or over the patio are relatively easy to install if the mains hook-up is nearby. Further away, you will need to use special outdoor, weatherproof cable and bury it in deep trenches.
- Low-voltage lighting also needs a mains power supply, but is cheaper and easier to install. Each low-voltage lighting kit comes with a transformer that is plugged into a household mains socket inside the building with a low-voltage cable taking the power outside. Since it is only 12-volts, the cable is harmless and can be laid on the soil surface with individual lights clipped on at intervals. This means the lights and cable are easy to move about to change the lighting effect. The main drawback of low-voltage lighting is that it is not as powerful and individual lights can only illuminate small areas.
- Solar-powered lighting is completely flexible and worth considering where it is impractical to lay out a cable. More of a glow than an illumination, solar-powered lights can be useful for guiding you up remote paths, steps and entrances or for adding an inexpensive night-light to the front garden.
- Natural light Candles, flares, braziers and firepits provide a temporary atmospheric glow to the garden and are often the preferred option for entertaining outside. Highwayman storm lanterns help protect candles from summer breezes, making the light more consistent.