How To Maintain A Designer Garden

Walls look wonderful lit from below with wall washers, either highlighting the texture of brick or stone or creating texture on a plain rendered wall. Around an eating area, for example, up lighters on the walls would create a soft background glow, and all the additional light you would need for practicality could come from candles on the table.

You also need to consider the impact that shadow has. An architectural plant lit from below will cast fantastic magnified shadows on a nearby wall. In my awn garden, the shadows cast by the jagged blue leaves of Melianthus major look like palm trees on a terracotta wall and turn south-west London at night into southern California.

You can use light to emphasize the style of your garden. In a formal garden, for example, narrow beams of light at regular intervals shining up a wall would add to the formality, while softer more diffuse lights set at different angles and washing over the wall would give a much more informal feel. In modern gardens, the latest technology in fibre optics, as well as neon, takes lighting into the realm of art.

You can also use up lighters to mark a path in a more subtle way than by using lanterns, while sidelights are ideal for illuminating steps or other changes of level.

Down lighters create discreet pools of light, which is another useful subtle way of marking features such as steps. These can be low enough for the fittings to be hidden in part by planting, or they can be very effective used as 'moon lights' high up in trees, shining down through the branches.

Light and water — moving water especially — is a magical combination. Even a simple bubble fountain or wall mask becomes a star attraction at night as the light turns each dancing droplet to gold or silver. Up lighters work well underwater in a formal pool, especially if they are placed directly under a fountain or jet. Do avoid the multi-colored pond lights on sale in most garden centres because they look more appropriate for a disco than a garden, and turn plants the most peculiar shades. Stick to white for a much more subtle effect.

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