The key to garden lighting is to add drama without detracting from the romance of the night scene
In garden design terms lighting is the icing on the cake. It’s an exciting, highly creative medium that can turn the evening and night garden into a magical and romantic place often unrecognisable from its daytime identity. A flick of a switch, a push of a remote control button or now even a thumb swipe on your iPhone can give a garden a new dimension.
Development in outdoor lighting technology combined with the rapid expansion of the market means there is a now a huge range of versatile, reliable and elegant products for garden designers and homeowners. When it comes to permanently installed lighting the main choices are LED, metal halide and tungsten halogen, with each having their particular applications and strengths.
LED (light-emitting diode) fittings are available in a range of colours that can be set into decks, paving and steps or, low down in walls, can throw a narrow light vertically or horizontally on to a plant or surface. They’re also available moulded into flexible rope strips thin enough to lay between paving joints, under step risers and beneath built-in seats for a linear, modern look. LEDs don’t get hot so can be touched and walked on but they do have a relatively restricted beam angle.
Metal halide lights are powerful and emit a bright white light. Tungsten halogen is similar but works on a smaller scale, delivering a slightly warmer, so perhaps more comforting, light.
Halogen and LED lights
Both have a wide choice of beam angle and wattage but get hot so do need to be situated out of reach. The fittings themselves can be bought in metal finishes such as copper and brushed or polished stainless steel, but can also be bespoke powder-coated in most colours to complement the other finishes in the garden.
Solar lighting technology has seen the most exciting development in recent years. As a result, the concept of harnessing the sun’s rays during the day to sustainably power lighting in the evening has become a reality. Long gone are the days when solar lights would fizzle out disappointingly minutes after dark – many will keep going until dawn, even in climates with lower sunlight levels.
Fixed or movable small solar panels work in conjunction with the latest breed of super-bright LED lights.
Another welcome development has seen established product designers turn their hand to signature outdoor lighting pieces using fluorescent lamps. Many of these not only light the garden but their sculptural forms also contribute to the overall design – and some double up as seating. Most of these can be either permanently wired in or can be moved around the garden and plugged into an outdoor socket. The garden becomes a versatile place with a relaxed setting one evening, party setting the next.
The key to choosing garden lighting is to highlight just enough of the hard and soft landscaping to add drama without detracting from the romance of the night scene. In other words it’s as important to light trees as paths.
Many high-end garden lighting designers now use 3D CAD (computer-aided design) to develop a scheme and to show clients precisely what they’re getting before a commission.
TV presenter Joe Swift has designed his first Chelsea Flower Show garden this year: the Homebase Teenage Cancer Trust Garden
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An illuminating guide to the latest technology
The choice of which lamp (or bulb) to use in a light fitting depends on how long the lamp lasts (its life), the glow that it produces (its colour) and whether it can be dimmed, writes Lemma Shehadi. The amount of light that a lamp produces (in lumens) for the electrical energy consumed (in watts) is given by its efficacy (lm/W). Incandescent lamps typically have an efficacy of 12 lm/W.
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Tungsten halogen
A bright, warm lamp reminiscent of fire and daylight. Can be easily dimmed but uses high amounts of energy. Available as capsule, linear or reflector lamps.
Life: 1,500-5,000 hours
Colour: Warm white
Efficacy: 15-25 lm/W
Cost compared to incandescent: Saves up to 30 per cent in running costs
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Compact fluorescent
Takes time to warm up but is an energy-efficient lamp. Can be dimmed to about 20 per cent of output.
Life: 5,000-15,000 hours
Colour: Warm white
Efficacy: 20-50 lm/W
Cost compared to incandescent: Saves between 60 and 80 per cent in running costs
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Metal halide
Bright, intense light that takes a little time to warm up. Not so easy to dim. Available as spherical, capsule or linear lamps.
Life: 6,000-10,000 hours
Colour: Warm to intermediate white
Efficacy: 65-95 lm/W
Cost compared to incandescent: Saves up to 80 per cent in running costs
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LEDs
Available in an increasing range of colours and fittings. Can be bought as individual capsule lamps, spherical lamps, or in tubes. Easy to dim.
Life: 15,000-60,000 hours
Colour: Warm, intermediate, cool-white and colours
Efficacy: 30-100 lm/W
Cost compared to incandescent: Saves more than 80 per cent in running costs
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