Garden Lighting Ideas

We asked garden designer Sean Keighran from Creative Garden Design for advice for anyone installing garden lighting.

Garden Lighting Design Tips How To Cut Running Costs

Garden Lighting Design Tips

What are your top garden design lighting tips?

"Overall, I want to highlight the main focal areas using a mix of low voltage lights. There's a great variety of lights available in Dublin now, so I mix styles, colours and voltages.

The first step for me is to plan which areas to highlight. Then I pick out an appropriate style of light fitting for the various areas. For example,:

For trees - uplighters.
For soft planting - green soft bulbs.
For patio areas - low crossing lights.
For decking - brick lights and LEDs are fashionable.
For paving and walking areas - uplighters.

With regards to colours, I find that white light on its own or with a mix of colours works well.

With regards to power, I mix bulbs of between 20W and 100W. 80W works well for planted areas."

How Can Homeowners Cut Running Costs?

How can homeowners cut running costs?

"To reduce running costs you should ask the electrician to separate the circuits as much as possible. That you way you have as much control as possible and you will want to be able to "layer" the lights. For example, if you're out, you can just leave on the lights for the paths and drives. At other times, when you want to enjoy the garden, you can turn on more of the lights.

The other way to bring down running costs is to use energy efficient bulbs."

Thanks to Sean Keighran of Creative Garden Design for his advice for this article. Creative Garden Design are specialists in garden lighting. Visit their online store, outdoor lighting ireland for a fantastic range of outdoor lights and accessories.