Casa Garden

Traditionally, lighting design is based on the identification and combination of four primary lighting types, which are accent, ambient, task and decorative lighting. And pretty much the same idea applies to designing outdoor lighting, but before we look further at each of these types there are some basic differences to take into account.

First there is a small matter of size. Interior spaces are constrained by walls and ceilings and are really rather diminutive compared to even a small garden. Outside there is no height restriction and at night especially there is no clear boundary either.

This presents a number of problems and benefits where garden lighting design is concerned. Indoors, much of the light gets reflected from the ceiling and walls which simply increases the level of ambient light in the room. Outdoors however, light simply vanishes into space which creates a strong contrast with nearby areas and causes them to appear even more dark.

This shortfall in secondary ambient light does mean that many normal interior lighting techniques aren’t suitable outdoors. However there are some advantages since the high contrast darkness can be used to develop unusual effects and even to create a night garden that is seemingly unrelated to its daytime twin simply by playing up some features and playing down others.

There is also the question of how you use your outdoor spaces. Traditionally, garden designers have espoused the concept of viewing the garden as simply another room (or suite of rooms) in your home, and this idea spills over into lighting.

You almost certainly employ different lighting arrangements for various rooms based on their intended use, so bedroom lighting would be quite distinct from kitchen lighting for example. So if you planned on using your deck as a place to entertain then it would be prudent to install lighting suitable for that purpose. Likewise, you would (presumably) use quite different lighting for a pathway or to illuminate say a water feature – different purpose.

Which leads us back to the four core lighting groups and their use outdoors.

Although ambient light is a cornerstone for the other three lighting types where interior lighting design is concerned, outdoors it can’t easily be used in this way because of the absence of reflective planes; instead ambient light is often pushed to the fore rather than playing second fiddle to the other types. Solar garden lights are a classic example of the kind of diffuse lights that gives a soft, pleasant glow without really calling attention to themselves.

Accent lighting is concerned with drawing attention to and showing off detail and/or color in whatever garden features you want to emphasize. It can also be used to draw the eye in particular directions. Spotlights are commonly used for outdoor accent lighting and for a really contemporary look, LED spot lights that deliver sharp, vibrant light and also run cold and can thus go places where hot incandescent lamps can’t.

Decorative lighting performs a similar function in that it is intended to look attractive and catch the eye, with the difference that the light fitting itself is the focal point. Once again LED garden lights are now used quite heavily for decorative effects.

Outdoor task lighting is generally less to do with providing light sufficient for reading and so on and more concerned with enabling people to see where they’re going. It’s found in path lighting or set into a deck and around BBQ areas.

Successful garden lighting depends on combining all the four core lighting types, just the same as interior lighting design (and it’s also good to have independent control of the task lighting). Over reliance on just one type will almost always produce an unsatisfactory result. Ambient lighting alone will make your garden appear drab and formless; accent lighting used in isolation can seem over dramatic and rather harsh; and too much decorative lighting creates a disjointed and slightly tacky look.

A really simple way to get a rich combination of the main lighting types is to just buy an assortment of varied light fittings. So pick up some spot lights that cover a range of beam angle and luminosity plus the standard lanterns and path markers. Introduce a few coloured lights to the collection and also aim to use both solar powered and mains low voltage powered lights. As you might expect, contemporary examples of both formats are now LED based.