The Designer Touch Modern Choices In Garden Lighting

Garden lighting is often overlooked in a landscaping scheme

. However, clever use of outdoor lights can really make a garden come alive. It doesnt need to be complicated or expensive to install; we at Wickes DIY have a wide range of garden lighting solutions at low cost.

Garden lighting should be functional and practical its pointless installing something that only illuminates itself. You can use a variety of schemes some to show off planted areas, and some to illuminate the path or driveway leading to them. You neednt worry about a huge electricity bill: modern garden lighting uses LED or low-energy halogen bulbs and you can cut costs still further by using solar powered options.

Patios, decking areas and balconies benefit from permanent deck-lighting, rather then the ubiquitous strings of garden fairy lights. Deck-lights can be fitted anywhere, horizontally or vertically not just in wooden decking areas. They fit flush with the surface via concealed, waterproof fixings, and employ low energy, low heat LED or halogen bulbs.

Once you have created your recess, deck-lighting is easy to install. It works by connection to a central transformer, which connects to the mains supply via an outdoor cable, so some basic DIY skills are needed. However, solar-powered versions are now widely available, which need no wiring at all.

The area beyond the patio often becomes dark and uninviting at night. If you do venture there, its usually with trepidation and a torch. Yet you can create a magical night-time landscape anywhere, with cleverly positioned lighting. Take deck-lighting along the paths and into gazebos, or create a subtle up-lighting effect in shrubberies and flowerbeds. Use spiked halogen lights to illuminate paths or driveways. Throw instant glamour onto garden buildings by adjustable halogen spots - the list is endless.

Spotlights are particularly useful, offering security as well as an attractive lighting solution. If theres an area you are nervous will attract intruders, simply throw a spotlight on it. These can be spiked into flower beds or positioned among trees to act as down-lighters. Just be careful youre not lighting up your neighbours house as well as your own.

If you have a narrow or awkward driveway entrance, there is definitely an advantage in installing brick lights, such as we have at Wickes DIY, either side of the entrance. These are designed to be installed into walls as they are being built, so are of little use if the pillars are already erected, or your front garden doesnt have a wall. In this case, you can use spike halogen lights or, better still, embed lights into the driveway.

Drive-over lighting is similar to deck lighting, but can support the weight of a vehicle usually, up to the weight of a small delivery truck. They have to be recessed, so some basic DIY skills are needed. Like deck-lighting, solar versions are available.

There are far more interesting ways to light your garden than a string of fairy lights, as we at Wickes DIY prove. With modern low-energy bulbs and solar energy solutions, garden lighting is easily installed by anyone with a basic knowledge of DIY.

by: Emma McCann

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