There are many things that can really add to your outdoor environment and garden lighting is probably one of the most important elements that can be added to really make your garden pop. Even if it is to light up silk plants that you may have indoor or outdoor. Most people do not realized, when they see a hotel or restaurant landscaped and finished, what it is that really stands out to them. Most people do not realize exactly what they like about a landscape they just know they like it. This is where tip number one comes into play to help you out in creating a relaxing environment. The two most important things that need to be present in your garden are, one plenty of plants and two, lights incorporated throughout the garden. From the house lights, to the planter lights, to the path lights, everything needs to be the same and uniform to get the most effect. This means same bulb color and style. If you have five lights on the back porch of your house you should balance that out with five pathway lights and five planter lights. Balancing of garden lighting is the number one thing that people notice and realize they like when they really examine an outdoor garden area. Before we get further into designing you garden lighting lets look at some options available to you.
Lantern Lighting:
This type of back yard lighting is found in many commercial buildings or public parks. Lantern lights are better for larger garden lighting with plenty of space due to their size. These lanterns can come in about 2’-4’ tall and come in hundreds of styles. Some of these garden lights have top lighting, some have side lighting, and some have wrap around lighting. Most of the time these garden lights are used more to define or to accentuate a walkway or path. They come with their own posts to mount in to the ground and some require Quickcrete to cement into the location you want them. You can find them online and at home décor stores for $50-$250. The best idea is to locate how many you want get a count and apply that to what you can afford.
Flower Lighting:
This next type of garden lighting is more favoring toward the look during the day instead of the functionality at night. Most people like these because they are not large in your garden and do not distract from your yard during the day like other types of garden lighting can do. These lights are very artistic and most of the time, are made with colored glass to replicate flowering plants. They are great to use in planters. You can find then about 1’-2’ tall max. They stick directly into the ground and require the least amount of maintenance. You can find these most of the time in a set of four for around $100.
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Traditional Lighting:
This is the kind of garden lighting that we all think of when we think of backyard lights. It is the style that has been around for years and has established itself as the basic garden light. These are not very tall maybe 6” and are primarily found in black round tops. The one drawback is that they are not very bright at all. The main function of these lights is to be like stars and just decorate your backyard environment. They are fairly cheap about $100 for a ten pack and are most common.
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Lamp Lighting:
These outdoor garden lights are made to be a large fixture in your backyard. These like the lantern lights are used in commercial buildings and public park settings. They are very expensive and are made to light a large area. They can be found at sizes ranging from 7’-12’ tall. Most of the time you will not need thus type unless you have a large area to light up. Styles are very modern and sleek with little decoration or accents on them. They are also the most expensive at $500-$1500 depending on if they are low voltage garden lights or high voltage garden lights.
Spot Lights
One of the best kinds of garden lights that really helps tie the backyard together is with utilizing spot lights. These are just like flood light and are very bright. Their design is to point a stream of light at an object or particular spot on a wall or building. People have also used these lights to illuminate a nice plant stand. This is the third part of lighting that you can take advantage of to make your environment relaxing and comfortable. You have the house lights, pathway and garden lights and plant and tree lights. These tend to have higher voltage bulbs in them and are fairly small 4” x 6”maybe. They are direct and not meant to be visible during the day. You can find these for about $40-$60.
Brick Lights
The last type of garden light that you can choose from is the new brick lights. These are specialty lights that allow you to have for example, every 8 to 10 bricks along a path or driveway be lit up at night. These are great because during the day they are flush with the rest of the masonry work that you have and then at night add something new and attractive to look at. They the same size of a standard red brick and can be found for $50-$80.
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Materials
This is something that applies to all garden lights and are available to all garden light types. They have almost any style and finish you can imagine for any type of light you just have to be able to decide what you want. There are a few popular finishes like: brass, stainless steel, brushed aluminum, and copper. Materials are just something that comes with the entire finish you want for your garden.
Power
Energy is something that kills people when deciding on garden lighting. You really have two main options today. The first is solar. Most of the time this is where each light has a little solar pad on it and charges during the day and lights all by itself at night. I would recommend solar garden lights for accent lights only. They are not very bright and tend to run out of power quick. The rechargeable batteries also tend to die within a year or so which the batteries are hard to find and if you do the cost of these rechargeable batteries total the cost of the lights.
Wired power is perfect for all garden lighting types. I would probably choose this type of lighting for everything in my yard just from the simple fact that you decide where you want all your lights, lay the wire and you don’t have to do anything after that. The life of these lights are guaranteed by most manufactures as well. The only problem that may arise is that you may have to change a bulb now and then. This power system is most commonly paired with a transformer (cost: $100-$250) and a timer to make sure you do not waste energy. This is the most long term efficient plan that you can invest in when you are investing in garden lighting.
Tip Overview
Tip #1: Have plenty of plants and lights present in your garden.
Tip #2: Keep lighting uniform (same style & color) for the house, to path, to the garden.
Tip #3: Use lights equally on the house, the path, the planters, and to the trees.
Tip #4: Plan ahead of all light locations and set your budget accordingly.
Tip #5: Research garden lights availability to you based on your location. Ordering online save you time and money and gives you more options.
Tip #6: Decide the style of garden lights you want taking into consideration day look and night look.
Tip #7: Utilize spot lights to light up plants and trees at night.
Tip #8: Design your garden lighting using
- House Lights
- Pathway and Garden Lights
- Plant and Tree Spotlights
Tip #9: Find a style and pick the material that you like best in that style. They all are good looking just make sure that it matches with the rest of your garden or backyard.
Tip #10: Decide on a power source for your lights and what will be long term cost effective.
Enjoy !!!
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