Let there be lights
Bulbs offer night magic
WITH a few lights and lots of creativity you can transform your gloomy garden into a magical wonderland at the flick of a switch.
Lighting adds character and a dramatic new look after dark which you can enjoy from inside the house.
Simple outdoor fairy lights have endless uses, such as turning a humble path into an enchanted walkway.
To enhance it, place twinkling arches along the route and throw net lights over evergreen plants.
Use warm white bulbs to create an elegant and stylish effect. Save multicoloured lights for a Christmas feel.
To make borders stand out, select key plants for highlighting.
If you want to emphasise the beauty of a bare tree, use up-lights to illuminate its whole trunk and its branch structure. To bring attention only to a special feature, such as shiny or coloured bark, use spotlights.
Versions fixed to ground spikes are the most useful as they can be moved around the garden to create different effects. One of the most exciting results you’ll achieve is by putting spotlights on either side of a feature, such as a fountain or ornament, and allowing the beams to cross.
Solar
Doing this will create interesting shadows as well as throw light onto the intricate details of the feature.
The trendiest way to illuminate a patio, deck, raised bed or outbuilding is with flexible, waterproof LED low-voltage light strips.
LEDs, which come in blue, green, red, white and colour-changing, are incredibly bright and cheap to run.
They have a long life and are maintenance free because there are no filaments to break.
They are also very safe and do not get hot to the touch, so are a good choice for family gardens.
Battery LEDs are also available for lighting areas where you have no power. Solar lights are another option in these areas and are free to run.
For creating light with warmth and atmosphere, you can’t beat candles.
They omit a romantic glow and set the tone and mood of the space. Their flickering flames create interesting lighting patterns and shadows.