Embracing nature makes people happier. Noises from the outdoors lower your stress hormones. Given how stressful life is nowadays, you should spend as much time outside as possible. After sunset it’s harder to enjoy time out in your garden. You can’t see any potential tripping hazards. The darkness also mutes the vibrant colors of your flowers and trees. The right garden lighting ideas can transform your garden into a whole new living space. Head out to your garden with a notebook, pen and an open mind. It’s time to use some modern outdoor lighting ideas to liven up your San Diego area garden.

Mix Up the Style of Garden Lights

The outdoor lighting fixtures you install can tell a story. Do you want to bring the indoors outside? Is your dream to wander through an enchanted forest? When you sit down with a landscaping designer to plan your lighting, be bold. Tell them your dreams for the garden. Take your dream garden plans and apply them to the little lighting details, as well. Why should you install plain path lights when a theme tells a better story? To recreate the environment from your favorite vacation, buy accents made by locals. Lamps and lampshades from different regions create unique shadow patterns. Use these patterns to make plain patio flooring more interesting. Is your fence a boring plain color? Use it as a backdrop for lanterns with bright patterns. You can use the same trick to hide plain walls behind a flowerbed. Embrace small garden lighting ideas like using floor lamps. They turn the garden into an extension of your living room. But first check that the lamp you want is rated for outdoor use

Make Your Garden Feel Bigger with These Easy Lighting Tricks

When some people think about garden lighting they focus on installing ground-level lights. Too much lighting on the ground draws the focus to the limits of your garden. Move at least a quarter of your outdoor lighting fixtures up above your head. Your guests won’t notice your garden’s size if their eyes are on the trees. Moonlighting is a newer technique that uses trees to dissipate natural lighting. The idea is to recreate light from a full moon anywhere on your property. Older trees with a wide canopy work the best for this technique. Hang a few potted plants from your patio and add stake lights. The light shows off the plant’s colors. It’s also another way to extend your garden’s space by moving the focus off the ground. Do you have a tall patio roof or pergola? Drape small string lights from the highest point. Let the lights trail down to showcase a potted flower arrangement or flowerbed.

Don’t Shy Away from Non-Traditional Lighting Colors

For safety reasons, most people use white or natural light in the garden. A monochrome lighting pallet allows you to use more color in the decor. However, there are other ways to play with color that help tell the story of your dream garden. The good news is, many modern LED lighting systems come in a range of colors. You don’t need to commit to one color or spend money replacing unwanted lights. A few colored outdoor lighting ideas:

• Install blue or purple festoon lights in the trees for a fairytale themed garden
• Use colored stake lights in containers with white flowers
• Colored paper lanterns are playful and inexpensive patio lighting
• Transform concrete art installations with color-changing LED lights
• Put color-changing lights in Moroccan-style lanterns

Colored LEDs are great accent lights, but some aren’t very bright. To stay safe, don’t use them near trip hazards and stairways.

Showcase Your Favorite Plants

Avid gardeners have that one plant in their collection they love to show off. Put your point of pride on display night and day by installing spotlights. A popular technique using spotlights is uplighting. It uses spotlights at the base of a tree to highlight it’s branches at night. Try it out on a tree with textured bark and winding branches. Backlighting transforms your garden grasses into something from another world. Plant different levels of grasses in your flowerbed for the best effect. Aloe and other large succulents look great with backlighting, as well. When installing spotlights, it’s tempting to go overboard. Break your garden into smaller sections. Find one major plant or two smaller plants to showcase in each section. You don’t have to focus on plants when installing spotlights. If your garden has a unique building feature, highlight it.

Draw Focus to the Water Features

Water features add peaceful sounds to your garden that help you relax. They’re a nice place to sit and watch the local wildlife. At night the details on your fountains and waterfalls turn black and grey. You can’t see any nighttime visitors to your garden pond. Lighting for water features can come from above, behind, or inside the water. New lighting technology means you can install lights wherever you want. Turn your fountains into mystical portals by installing color-changing lights. Add a light behind your pool’s waterfall to create an ever-changing lighting effect. If you think a weird idea is possible and want to try, ask your outdoor lighting installer. They will let you know if your idea will look good. If it won’t, they’ll work with you to make your vision come true.

Need Help Making Your Garden Lighting Ideas Come True?

During times of chaos, everyone deserves a private oasis. The right garden lighting ideas allow you to enjoy the peace at night, too. Our team will walk you through the lighting process from design to installation. Let us put our years of experience to work on your San Diego home. Contact us today to begin your garden transformation. Don’t forget to ask about our free consultation offer.