How To Transform Your Garden With Lights
There are lots of reasons why you would want to illuminate your garden. People often have functional reasons so its safer to navigate the dark at night, so you can see the path and make out the steps. Plus making sure the garden is lit up offers better security. But also, it gives your house more curb appeal.
You can use garden lights to highlight any special features you appreciate in your garden, especially if you have a sculpture or water feature. Personally, for me I want my garden to have that fairytale feel, with twinkly lights making it feel magical and atmospheric. I want my garden to be a place I can escape too and forget the stresses and strains of everyday life.
You do not have to spend a lot to transform your garden with lights. Whether you like the garden up because you want to eat out there or entertain friends, or you light up the pathway so that it can take you from your back door to your home garden office, lighting can transform your garden in the most positive way. Below are some ideas you could try that won’t break the bank.
Festoon Lights
Festoon lights are the traditional chain of lights often used for decoration. You can pick them up very reasonably.
The advantage of Festoon lights is they look great regardless of the occasion, adding extra sparkle on winter nights or brightening up the garden in summer when your eating al fresco.
I have teamed up with lights4fun to giveaway a pack of 15 Drop Bulb Battery Festoon Lights. If you would like to enter just fill out the form below. The giveaway will close on the 7th of August.
WIn a 15 Drop Bulb Battery Festoon Lights
Lanterns
Lanterns are a wonderful choice to add a warming glow to your garden. Hanging them from trees can look very enchanting and draw your eyes around the trees in the garden. You can get the Porto Solar Lantern Bundle for £47.99 (currently reduced from £59.99) or if you’re on a smaller budget the Rattan Solar Lantern Duo is only £19.99 at the moment. These look great on tables or at the feet of your outdoor furniture.
Path Lights
Even though path lights serve a practical function they can still be beautiful. There are so many different choices out there you can be quite creative with your vision. For example, you can get flamingos or pineapple path lights from lights4fun. So, they can definitely cater for your needs if you want something fun or more novel. However, my favourite has to be the Moroccan solar stake lights (currently £24.99). The intricate shadows they cast in your garden make them all the more appealing.
What To Think About
Contrast
To create an impact, you need to work on the contrast between dark and light. The garden lights will look most effective if there are sections of darkness.
Trial Run
Before purchasing your garden lights use candles to see where best light would work in your garden. Then you can have an idea of how many you will need, where they will create the most impact and what features you want to draw attention too.
Power Source
Don’t forget to think about your power source, whether you want to plug in your garden lights to transform your garden or have them plugged into the mains. Battery garden lights give you more freedom, you can choose to hang them anywhere without the worry of being hooked up to the mains. But I find that when you connect to the mains you get brighter lights as a rule.
Absolutely gorgeous lights!!
we use solar led string lights which work ok
I wrapped string lights around my bird table that looks nicer than I thought
We have a lot of solar lights and ones run on battery they all make me happy
I used Solar charged light bulbs. The solar panels are high up on the fence for maximum daylight charging.
I bought a lovely solar light picture from Floralys. They have lots of different themes.
Little solar lights in my bamboo plants they are really effectively
I love warm white solar lights and have had so many sets! They never seem to last more than a year though. The weather gets to them. Although I did manage to deadhead one set during a drunken gardening afternoon!
I have a dozen solar lights lining the edge of my borders and they work well and look lovely at night
Solar fairy Lights and Lantern lights
We don’t have any lighting – budget was spent on patio and fencing
These would be lovely in my garden and would highlight the work undertaken planting this year and would finish it off a treat
Don’t put them near the neighbours fence! My neighbour accidently chopped my lights down when trimming his bushes!!
I haven’t used them yet, I really want some.
We had brought some recently, but learnt our lesson with buying cheap, they are solar ones from B&M as wanted a few to stick in the flower beds and didn’t want to spend to much, they do light up but not very brightly.
We dont have any lighting in our garden, these look so pretty
I have yet to find a solution for our garden lighting.
we have solar lights around the flower beds,
Solar lights are a must
Solar lights which go straight into the ground
I have some Solar lights in my rose flowerbed that are lovely!
Struggling with our solar lights right now. They’re not very powerful.
I have a small amount of electric lights and solar lights. Surprisingly the solar lights are much better than they were from years ago! Technology has improved and Im more than impressed!
Got solar string lights in my gazebo and the fence. Need more though .
I have some solar power butterflys – they sound really tacky but honestly they look really nice!
So far, the best outdoor lights I’ve found are battery lights and corded lights.
These look lovely
String of solar coloured lights with various settings which the grandchildren love
Ooh they look lovely
Solar path lights have helped me in the garden
I like the cosy effect of solar lights in the garden
We wrap fairy lights around a garden bush so that they twinkle in the night – it really cheers us up.
Anything solar powered seems to be holding up so far.
Solar path lights are a real help in my garden
Battery powered ones work best outdoor garden as it doesn’t let in the water holds it out for a long period.
Lovely competition.
I don’t have any lighting at the moment. I’ve just started tidying the garden and once that’s done, I’ll add lights.
Lights around the back door and garage. Motion sensors are great.
lights along the path
I had some solar butterfly lights which were great in spring and summer and the light they gave off was warm rather than bright and harsh.
I’ve wrapped string solar lights all around the frame of my gazebo it looks stunning at night
Solar fairy Lights
We have some solar lights but we’re looking to enhance our garden now with what we can find
We have loads of solar lights but I especially love my solar topiary balls, I asked for them specifically for my birthday, I love them & so do the rest of the family!