How To Design Successful Garden Lighting

Established lighting design theory revolves around the idea of identifying and mixing together four main lighting types, namely decorative, accent, ambient and task lighting. And out in the garden we find that things are in principle little different for designing effective outdoor lighting. However, there are some important differences to be aware of before we look further at each of these lighting types.

Firstly there is an issue of scale. Indoor spaces are bounded by ceilings and walls and are thus quite restricted when compared to even a tiny garden. Outdoors the ceiling stretches up to the stars and when night falls it’s not clear where the edges are either.

This presents a number of problems and benefits where garden lighting design is concerned. Indoors, much of the light gets reflected from the ceiling and walls which simply increases the level of ambient light in the room. Outdoors however, light simply vanishes into space which creates a strong contrast with nearby areas and causes them to appear even more dark.

This shortfall in secondary ambient light does mean that many normal interior lighting techniques aren’t suitable outdoors. However there are some advantages since the high contrast darkness can be used to develop unusual effects and even to create a night garden that is seemingly unrelated to its daytime twin simply by playing up some features and playing down others.

There is also the matter of how you plan on using your outdoor spaces. A classic garden design theory is that you should regard your garden as an additional room (or set of rooms) and design accordingly, lighting included.

You probably have different lighting for different rooms according to their function, for example kitchen lighting is clearly different to that used in a bedroom. If for example you wish to use your deck as a space for entertaining you need to install lighting appropriate to this use. Equally, a water feature or a path should have lighting suitable for that purpose (unless of course you plan to host your parties on the path).

Which leads us back to the four core lighting groups and their use outdoors.

Although ambient light is a cornerstone for the other three lighting types where interior lighting design is concerned, outdoors it can’t easily be used in this way because of the absence of reflective planes; instead ambient light is often pushed to the fore rather than playing second fiddle to the other types. Solar garden lights are a classic example of the kind of diffuse lights that gives a soft, pleasant glow without really calling attention to themselves.

Accent lighting is simply the art of picking out and/or enhancing those features you wish to emphasize at night. It can be used to accentuate color or detailing and also to lead the eye. Most garden accent lighting uses spotlights and these days predominantly LED spots since they deliver much more crisp and vibrant light and can also “get in close” since they don’t output any heat.

Decorative lighting performs a similar function in that it is intended to look attractive and catch the eye, with the difference that the light fitting itself is the focal point. Once again LED garden lights are now used quite heavily for decorative effects.

Task lighting outdoors is obviously not so much about light suitable for reading and doing things as providing ample light for people to get about safely. This encompasses the ubiquitous LED deck lights, pathway lights and lighting around entertainment zones so folk can see what they’re easting and drinking (roughly).

The key to effective garden lighting is the same as with interior lighting design, which is to combine all four of the basic lighting types (it also helps if you can arrange to be able to operate task lighting separately). Like indoor lighting, reliance on just ambient light will result in a drab and indistinct look, while using only accent lighting is likely to come across as harsh and over dramatic, and if you over rely on decorative lighting it will almost certainly come across as disconnected and frankly cheesy.

An easy way to ensure a good mix of lighting types in your garden is to buy different types of light fitting. So have a number of different styles of spotlight (varying in brightness and beam angle) plus say some all purpose lanterns and spikes. Mix in a few coloured lights and combine both solar and low voltage mains lighting. LED garden lights are commonly found in both these formats and complement each other very well.