Chic lamps with electricity or solar powered as well as ideas to make yourself – we show beautiful garden lighting and give tips on how you can create atmosphere and security with little effort and put your garden in the best possible light.
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Are all the gardens gray in the evening? No! Garden lighting sets the scene in the mood and opens up completely new perspectives, so that you can experience and enjoy the garden twelve months a year. Individual light objects, an elegant bollard light or small lanterns also become the perfect garden decoration during the day.
Garden lighting for all areas
Purely functional light serves for safety and illuminates pathways, patios or dark house corners, often in combination with a motion detector. The corresponding garden lights usually have a 230 volt connection.
In order to stage individual plants or objects, people like to take low-voltage halogen lamps with a 12-volt connection and ground spike – and meanwhile more and more garden lights with LEDs.
Fairy lights, light objects, candles and fire baskets, on the other hand, create a cozy atmosphere with their soft light. For LEDs, the color “warm white” certifies a color that is pleasing to the eye. The blue, cold light of the early LEDs hardly exists anymore.
A free-standing luminaire primarily serves to mark the way or – if it emits the light in warm white color – also as a mood light in the background. They are only suitable for illuminating large areas if they have a high base of at least 50 cm.
Warning: do not use too much light. A brightly lit garden looks boring and only drives up the electricity bill. Deliberately set, individual lighting effects are better, which can then also be used for garden design:
With an outdoor lamp with earth spike, you can illuminate a tree or a statue and, for example, place individual light points on the lawn or in the bed. For garden ponds there are underwater spotlights that work with low voltage.
If you want to save electricity, use garden lights with light-emitting diodes (LED), which are now also available in warm light colors and which last a very long time. Solar-powered lights, energy-saving lamps with an E 27 base and timers also reduce power consumption. Electricity in the garden is always a source of danger, so if you want to install underground cables yourself, you should be particularly careful and always consult a specialist in case of doubt.
PRACTICAL TIPS & TRICKS
– Many weak points of light are better for illuminating the garden than a few strong ones.
– Lamps and lights should blend harmoniously into their surroundings during the day. Plants can hide technical accessories such as cables.
– Objects and plants should be illuminated from the side or at an angle from below. This way their shape comes into its own.
– With a remote control, illumination and water features can be conveniently controlled from the seat.
– The targeted use of colored light enhances the effect of bamboo leaves, autumn leaves and bark color.
– It is also nice to cast bushes and grasses on a wall. For the right effect, the light source should be a hard light without a diffuser.
Possibilities of garden lighting
Garden lighting with spotlights:
Individual garden lights are ideally suited to highlight individual objects. During the day, spotlights are hidden behind stones or in the undergrowth and only come to life in the evening lighting. And then suddenly plants are also put in the spotlight that you don’t pay attention to during the day. Depending on the position, direction and color of the lamps, the trunk or branches can be bathed in golden light, boulders and walls appear more plastic.
Most spotlights are simply stuck into the ground with earth spikes. This anchors the lamps firmly, but you can still reposition them as often as you like. There are also special models with swiveling heads for even more flexibility.
Seat lighting:
Light at the seat fulfills two wishes: on the one hand, it makes it really cozy with torches or lanterns, on the other, brighter lamps provide enough light to be able to read a book in the evening. Make sure that the lamps do not dazzle.
In the meantime, there are even elegant floor lamps for outdoor lighting that are similar to living room lamps with screens, but are weatherproof.
Garden lighting for paths:
Who hasn’t stumbled on unlit garden paths? To illuminate trip hazards, there is a wide range of outdoor lights, usually pedestal or bollard lights up to 1.5 m high take over the lighting of garden paths at regular intervals. Garden lights made of stainless steel fit very well in modern gardens.
For safety reasons, such an outdoor light should only be connected to an underground line by a specialist.
If you don’t have a socket far and wide and don’t want to lay a cable in the floor, you can use a solar lamp for lighting, which recharge your batteries during the day and shine at night. These luminaires generally use energy-saving LED technology.
Garden lighting for ponds:
Garden lights also transform the water garden into a fairytale world late into the night: mysterious light shines from the water, the fountain changes color, and balls float on the water that illuminate their surroundings. Such balls look like giant soap bubbles that appear to float above the water surface in the wind.
Mood light under water:
The pond can also be staged in the evening. Underwater spotlights are simply plugged into an existing fountain pump. The water even changes its color with the filter disks in front. For safety, the banks of ponds should also be partially illuminated. If there are fish in the water, you should take their rest periods into account. Lighting for ponds uses low-voltage technology and uses little electricity. Alternatively, you can lay a waterproof chain of lights with LED.
Lighting effects in the garden:
String lights, lanterns, lanterns and outdoor candles set atmospheric lighting accents as garden lighting and are the perfect addition for garden parties or mild summer evenings. Outdoor floating candles bathe the pond or pool in atmospheric light. Planters illuminated with LEDs are very special eye-catchers.
Place the garden lighting correctly
Spotlights are also used wherever surprising effects are to be achieved by indirect light. Red light, for example, enhances the leaf color of blood beech trees, while bright white light, such as boulders or tall pampas grass, makes an outstanding appearance in the night garden. The dosage of the light is important, excessively used light is hard and unfriendly. Tip: First, explore the garden with a flashlight. This allows you to determine the most interesting objects and try out the optimal places for lighting from different angles before you install the lamps. It is important in all cases that the lights do not dazzle.
Most lights are simply stuck into the ground with skewers. This anchors the lamps firmly in the ground, but you can reposition them as often as you like. If you want to put individual objects in the right light, you can use special spotlights whose heads can be turned in all directions.
Erforschen Sie zunächst mit einer Taschenlampe den Garten und ermitteln die optimalen Plätze für eine Beleuchtung, bevor Sie diese fest einbauen.
Solar lamps for garden lighting
If you don’t have a socket far and wide, you can use solar lamps that fill up during the day and shine at night. Of course, the area with the solar cells should point as south as possible. A light sensor in the housing switches the lamp on automatically in the dark. The lamp does not require a cable and is simply plugged into the floor. The solar cells should only be cleaned from time to time so that the lamp stays on for as long as possible.
Refuel during the day, glow at night: Solar lamps do not require electricity or cables and can also be seen during the day. Modern lamp models create a homely atmosphere.
Garden lighting as a means of garden design
It’s paradoxical: when it comes to designing with light, many garden areas are still pretty dark. The lighting is usually limited to places that are important for orientation and security. The targeted use of light sources proves to be extremely worthwhile when you take a closer look. They open up completely new perspectives and ensure that the visible living area no longer stops at the window panes in winter. Wonderful views: The garden can be experienced and enjoyed twelve months a year!
No garden party without atmospheric lighting that you can easily do yourself.
The possibilities are as varied as the garden itself. Crowns of trees, effectively illuminated from below, or individual bed areas, immersed in atmospheric light, bring more spatial depth and impressively showcase plants. Indirect or background lighting creates exciting light and shadow play as well as attractive silhouettes. As is so often the case, less is more: only if selected plants or areas are illuminated systematically can you achieve atmospheric images in a dark frame.
