How to light up my garden

Often when looking to renovate a property many will instinctively head indoors. Revamping the internal décor of your home is always a worthwhile investment, but often there’s as much to be gained by making simple changes in the garden. Updating a home’s exterior can help unlock a new living space, allowing you to get the most from your outdoor environment.
There are a number of quick changes that you can make to your garden that will have a lasting impact. Arguably, the most effective of these changes will be the addition of lighting. Adding lighting can transform an outdoor environment, allowing you to use the area for evening drinks and dinners with friends and family. However, it is not always easy to know where to start, with many unaware of the recent trends and innovations available in the outdoor lighting market.

A landscape gardener can help you manage the design and implementation of a garden renovation. With a wealth of experience, these professionals can offer ingenious ideas you might never think of. This might mean subtly integrating lighting fixtures in the surrounding environment to create sleeker and more modern looks. Recent innovations, for example, mean it is easy to integrate outdoor lighting into furnishings like seats and benches, as well as existing pathways to allow for additional illumination and ambience.

When it comes to smaller gardens, the golden rule of lighting design is to keep things simple. Little changes, like adding small lamps to tabletops, or featuring large candles throughout the garden can make a big impact. What’s more, the majority of these smaller lights available on the market are either battery or solar powered, making them extremely versatile.

Another lighting trend to become popular across smaller gardens in recent years are spike lights. Mounted on top of a short spike, the lights can be pushed into the ground at the desired location. Once again, these lights can be mains, battery or solar powered and usually range between £5 to £35 each. Another option is to adorn your garden with string and lantern lights. While this won’t offer much additional brightness, it is still a great way to add a decorative touch.

Before embarking on your renovation it’s important to properly plan the change. First, break your garden down into sections in order to best plan the renovation. Decide whether you wish to use the lighting to create a sense of ambience, or to illuminate your garden. Estimate roughly how many units you will need to complete the task and establish a budget to work with. Finally, evaluate the options on offer from a trusted electrical supplier, or lighting manufacturer.

Alternatively, you could save yourself the hassle and invest in a landscape expert to complete the job for you. Finding a trusted tradesperson through a search service like Checkatrade helps you to do this efficiently. Whilst bringing another resource onboard might incur an additional cost initially, it can make a huge difference to the finished project.

Particularly on larger jobs, the costs associated with bringing a landscaping expert onboard is relatively small when compared to the overall outlay. This is a particularly worthwhile investment on designs that require mains supply power, as they often require the sign-off of a qualified electrician.