Garden Light Design Ideas

Any good landscaping project needs a few good outdoor lighting ideas for the garden. When you include some new ideas into your landscaping, you can impart a fun and interesting personality that will set your yard apart from your neighbors.

Here are five fun outdoor lighting ideas that you can incorporate into your landscape this year.
1. Create a path. While this might sound a bit simplistic, using pathway lights is a great way to add some fun personality to your yard. Consider using pathway lights along a stone pathway or a trail. They do not have to be used only along a sidewalk. Pathway lights are generally inexpensive and do not need to provide much illumination for this purpose. Solar lights are a particularly good choice because they can be easily placed just about anywhere you need them without external wiring or setup.
2. Create a shadow. If you have any feature like a tree or a shrub that is close to a wall or another large flat surface, consider putting a bullet light or some kind of directional light on the ground that points towards the figure. With proper placement, the light will cast a dramatic lighting effect on the wall.
3. Use in ground lighting. You may not realize it, but some landscape lights can be recessed into the ground where they are hidden from sight. This is a great way to clean up the look of your yard. Because most ground lighting systems use 120-volt electricity, which is not advisable for most do-it-yourself projects, you should consult a licensed professional.
4. Use sharp angles. Another great way to add personality to your landscaping is to place directional lighting at a very low point below the object you are trying to illuminate. Since the light is so low, you will need to set it at a sharp angle to light the area. These sharp angles will cast shadows that add dramatic visual appeal. Take care that the angle is not so sharp that the light does not hit every point that you are aiming for.
5. Light in groups. Instead of thinking of lighting your garden as a whole unit, think of it as lighting in groups. Lay out your garden in some kind of grid and light individual parts separately. Treating each area of the garden as its own individual section will help you highlight its features and give the area exactly what it needs to look great.

There are some incredible things you can do with lighting at night. An un spectacular statue with a spotlight directed from beneath can become an impressive centre piece of a garden as dusk falls. The point is that with the right lighting you can transform your garden into a different environment completely, throwing shapes and shadows and illuminating water features and ponds.