I asked my sister, who has a lovely garden, what she does in her garden at this time of year. This time of year, he says, he does a lot of gardening through the window. He said he would watch and think, "Wouldn't it be nice to do this or that?"
Well, I think it's a good time to look outside and think about improving your outdoor and yard lighting. Lighting up your yard can be fun, and with a little planning and execution, you can be ready for summer.
Garden lighting makes it more useful and pleasant. Projection lights can be useful for safety, but lighting your yard or patio should be done delicately. Creating a pleasant environment is very important. Thinking about how to light up your garden, patio or terrace is a good place to start.
There are many creative ways to make your yard the perfect place for entertaining. First, think about what you want to achieve. There are technological options for improving outdoor lighting. Do you want to have dinner with another couple or do you want a large company for a cocktail party? You can light your lot on a budget or hire professionals. You need to know how much light you want and how much you want to spend, or at least an approximate number.
There are three categories of lighting to consider: non-electric, low-voltage, and standard voltage. For electric options, you have flashlights, candles, and solar lights. These are all great options, although in some cases they don't stand out as much as they should. Once I went to a wedding in the park, and when it got dark, the candles on the tables were barely visible. Candles are perfect for the dinner table, but not for walks.
My husband and I eat outside most summer evenings, and our son uses some of the solar lamps we were given during the coronavirus. It works great on the dinner table and I have shared this resource with many of my friends. It charges by plugging it in about once a week. Of course, it depends on how long you eat and what model you buy. When the electricity runs out, the lights gradually turn off.
Now, if you want to highlight your garden or a certain plant, overhead lighting is the perfect solution. Low voltage lighting uses 12 volts, provides a soft glow, and works well as lighting a tree or architectural feature.
If you choose to use standard lighting, it should be installed by a professional electrician. They can put outlets outside so you can plug in any lights you want or plug into a tree
We have a nice patio, but it was too dark for evening entertainment. Over the years, many things have tried to shed more light on us. First I put some vines full of Christmas lights on the tree. They provided good visual interest, but didn't provide the light we needed. I always used a lot of small promises and tall candles, but even that wasn't enough. As people age, they need more light to see, and that was my goal when I wanted to comfortably entertain my guests outdoors.
So I decided to try to mimic what my friend was doing by using PVC pipe and running the light from one pole to the other. They use a PVC pipe as a support and put a cap and hook on top. Therefore, they installed lanterns that went from one pillar to another. They painted the columns brown and were almost invisible at night. It let in soft light and gave them a wonderful outdoor dining experience. It wasn't expensive, but it was a very fun evening.
String lights have become the most popular way of lighting open spaces. You can take this decorative rope or lightweight rope and effortlessly wrap it around your patio, trees, bushes or pergola. You can find them in different sizes, even the cheapest ones.
You can also get some strings of Christmas lights and place them on your bush to give it a soft glow. I put them on some oak hydrangeas that line my yard in one place, and in another I use them to warn people about tripping hazards on rock ledges around the trees.
I saw a privacy fence lit by hanging an array of individual lights. This image does not require symmetry or perfect placement. You can drop them from the top of the fence, or you can find another way to wrap them.
Then go closer to the window or go outside, look at your garden and imagine what you can do to create a magical atmosphere in the evening. Remember, candlelight is beautiful and the moon is magical, but installing outdoor lights in your yard will enhance your nighttime enjoyment.
