Plan for Garden Lighting

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You can find garden lighting that ranges from low-voltage to solar, and from practical to whimsical. Chances are that you’ll have some of all these in your garden once you’re finished. But an important step in choosing which garden lights to use is planning where you’ll put them and why.

Evaluate the Space for Garden Light Design

Before you head to the home and garden center excited about all the different and fun types of lighting available, look at your entire space and make some general plans. Look around both in the daytime and at night to get the best idea of where you’ll put lights that look best during both day and night. You’ll notice things at night that you wouldn’t during the day, such as how hard your deck steps are to see when the moon’s not very bright, or how you really can’t see your garden pond at all. During the day, you’ll be able to see the best spots for outdoor garden lights where they’ll do the job they’re supposed to without standing out when the sun’s up.

Your Garden Light Plan

Now that you’ve carefully examined your space and you know where you need and want lights to be, you can decide if you want hard-wired electrical lighting, low voltage garden lights, something like lamps or string lights that plug into a standard outlet or solar powered garden lights. If you need lighting far away from your deck and a power source, you can choose hard-wired lights like lampposts or solar lights. Lights that can be plugged in like low voltage and string lighting are better for the patio and deck area. This is also a good place for wall light fixtures and chandeliers. Make up a basic outline of where you’ll want which light so you have a plan to follow and don’t overspend.

Don’t Forget That Special Garden Light

When you’re looking at your options, you’ll naturally remember things like walkway lights and something to light up your patio and table area. But don’t overlook fun accent lighting like LED solar garden light fixtures in shapes like flowers or animals that provide an accent during the day and glow softly at night. If you have a pond or a swimming pool, LED lights designed to go underwater or float on top of it are options. And candle lamps and floating candle lights are great accents to keep in mind.

These things are all easy to add at a later time if you’d rather get your main lighting in place before deciding what else you want. But don’t forget about them and use too much light, or you’ll miss out on some fun ambient lighting options. Also, don’t forget to consider your neighbors. If you install a spotlight to show off a garden tree, make sure it doesn’t shine in the neighbor’s window or light up their yard in a way they don’t want.