Garden Lighting Ideas

Not many of us realize the importance of lighting the garden area. But if you do, you will have a wonderful place to have dinner with your family as well as to entertain the guests, right under the stars and the moon! To add to this magical scenario, there are numerous options available for landscape lighting, which if you select well, will add to the overall appeal of your outdoors like none. Scroll down for some of the most creative, at the same time practical garden lighting ideas...

Areas to be Lighted
The first thing to consider while planning outdoor lighting is to demarcate the areas in the garden which need lighting. Make sure that you do not have lights all over the garden, otherwise it will give a very cluttered look and generate almost no effect! Some of the areas that you can consider lighting are:

• Pathways and Driveways
• Staircase
• Swimming Pool, Ponds or any other Water Body
• Large Trees
• Seating Area
• Any Other Focal Points such as a Statue

Light Fixtures to be Installed
Once you have decided on the areas or things that you want to highlight, choose appropriate light fixtures for the same.

• For pathways and driveways, lights should be such that you can clearly see the passage. That's why, downlighting from trees along with installing recessed LEDs on both the sides of the walkway, on the ground, is a good option.
• For a seating area, downlights should be used. Uplights, if used in the seating area, can take away from the effect you are trying to create with your landscape lighting design, and hence should be avoided.
• As for the staircase, go in for bollard lighting. Another option is installing small lamp posts so that visibility is increased. Lamps can light up the staircase, making it safe for the users as well as adding to its beauty.
• If you are lucky to have a large tree in the middle of your garden, go in for recessed lighting fixtures on the ground around it. They will bring the attention to the tree in a subtle way, thus creating a stunning visual appeal in the night.
• If you want to highlight certain shrubs and flower-beds, install downlight fixtures, which have the lights falling on them.
• For pools and other water bodies, under-water, water-proof lights are ideal. Floodlights too look good as they accentuate the effect of water on the surroundings.
• For highlighting a focal point such as a statue, uplights are a good choice.
• For those of you who have an outdoor party planned in their garden, one of the lighting ideas is to place a few paper lanterns, all round the venue, to decorate it.

Light Colors
The natural looking white and light yellow lights are the most popular ones for garden lighting. However, if you want to experiment, there are lights available in colors such as red, blue, green and amber. Green lights look great over plants while red lights can be used to highlight focal areas. Blue lights look exceptionally good in the water bodies. Still, if you are not hiring a professional designer, settling for the safe white or light yellow light is ideal. Preferably opt for the non-wired solar lights. They do not harm the environment and may cost more initially but your low electricity bills will cover up the costs.

If you follow these ideas, you will be making your garden much more functional, beautiful as well as safe for your loved ones. So, go ahead and apply these landscaping ideas to enhance the look of your house!