Lighting a garden at night
Fewer lights, lower down, warmer in colour. How we light a garden so it can be used after dark without lighting up the neighbours.
- Written by
- Matteo Bassi
- Topic
- Building
- Reading
- 1 min
In July a garden in Valencia is used from nine at night until midnight. Most gardens we visit are lit by one bright lamp by the back door, which blinds anyone on the terrace and leaves everything else black.
Light the ground, not the sky
Every fitting we use points down or into a tree. Path lights sit low, 30 to 40 cm high, and throw a small pool onto the stone. Nothing shines into eyes, windows or the sky.
Warm, and dim
We use 2700 K everywhere, the colour of an old bulb. Cooler light makes plants look grey and people look tired. Most fittings run at a few watts. The eye adjusts quickly in a dark garden, and a little light goes a long way.
Three layers
- Paths and steps, for safety
- Two or three trees, lit from below so the canopy glows
- The terrace, on a dimmer, for eating
That is usually enough. A garden that is half in shadow feels larger at night than one lit evenly.
The practical part
Everything runs on a single low voltage circuit, laid in the same trench as the irrigation when we can. A timer switches it on at dusk and off at midnight. We leave a spare length of cable at each fitting so it can be moved when the plants grow.
