Outdoor Lighting Guide

Outdoor Lighting Guide

Outside spaces are often neglected in the evening. It is very rare, outside of Barbecue season, for much to be going on in the garden after dark besides maybe a few hedgehogs rummaging around. Using your garden in the evening can be a great way to extend your enjoyment of the space – of course, when the sun goes down you will need some of illumination. Doing this right can increase your satisfaction with your garden and impress guests and family alike.

Planning Ahead

You need to think about how you are going to light your garden before you begin. If you want to light up a path you must consider whether you want to light up any of the surrounding features. Low to ground lights will often be enough for the path, but if you wish to draw attention to some other features in you may want to angle or raise your path-lighting posts. By lighting paths you make anyone visiting feel it is okay to explore out further into your garden – it also makes the walkways safer to walk on in the evening.

If you want to illuminate a certain area remember that it has to work with the rest of the garden. There is a danger of over-lighting a garden, making it appear cheaper than it needs to. Remember – Vegas has lots of lights. Ambient and low lighting is often the best way to go with your outdoor lighting design.

Remember that you have to deal with the lights every day you do some gardening – having lights which can take a knock from a lawnmower or a pair of clippers is preferred.

Outdoor Lighting Ideas

There are many ways you can light your garden or outdoor space. It is best to only have a few focus points in the garden and leave anything to remain ambient.

Cross-lighting is good for drawing a focus on a single feature, one light draws attention to what you would like to highlight and the second softens the appearance of this light – an object lit from a single side appears harsh. Equally down-lighting is good for picking out a single tree, flower or bush.

A classic form of ambient lighting is that of “washing.” Washing is designed to let you illuminate a wall or hedge with a soft light. By pointing a light against a surface you create a light which people will use but not focus on. Water lighting can be a great feature, especially in ponds as fish will often create colour and shadow by passing over the light.

Power and Installation

When buying your transformer you should always buy a larger one than you require. If you think you need 200 watts of light then buy a 400 watt transformer – this allows you the ability to expand once your first set of outdoor lights are up.

A photosensitive transformer should be placed facing the sunset (west) so the lights don’t come on too early.

Press on fittings on lights should be avoided, or replaces with waterproof wire connectors – this should give you a longer lasting light fitting.

Remember that the further a light is from a transformer (i.e. the more lights between the transformer and the end bulb) the less light will be pushed out.

You should also leave some extra wire out when placing your lights as there will be a need to move and test the lights once they’re in roughly the correct areas. Burying the wires should be the last step in the process and should be done with care – make sure absolutely everything is ready and working before you begin.

With this in mind you should be ready to plan and install your own outdoor lighting.