If I were to pick out the one, singular thing that separates an amazing garden from a meh garden, it's a good lighting scheme. And if there's one thing I'd like to make sure of this summer, it's that none of us get to August with a garden that still looks lackluster.
It's often underestimated, but the truth of the matter is your outdoor lighting is just as important as whatever you've got going on indoors, arguably even more. A considered, chic lighting scheme is what will make your garden a place that's enjoyable to be in no matter the hour; the spot you never want to leave. It's the key to designing a garden for hosting, too. No garden lights, no vibes. And yet, we still see so many people opting for the same, worn-down, outdated styles.
If we're being brutal here, but with the wrong lighting, your entire outdoor area can end up looking... tacky. So, save yourself from embarrassment and follow our experts' tips for outdoor lighting choices to avoid this summer.
1. Heavy-Handed Strip Lighting
A word of advice: when it comes to building a perfectly layered outdoor lighting scheme, sometimes less is more.
There's an obvious temptation to fill your garden with as many lights as possible, with the illusion that it will make your outdoor space more usable come nightfall — however, the experts say just a few well-placed lights will be more than sufficient.
"The most effective schemes are those where darkness is treated as the necessary contrast required for good lighting to shine," notes garden designer Marlene Lento. Rather than trying to overpower any hint of darkness, lean into it instead. Just like in your home, for a lighting scheme to work, there needs to be a sense of contrast running throughout it, with brighter spots and darker ones sitting side by side.
Gardens that ignore this fact and cover the space with harsh, strip lighting on every step and surface will, more often than not, end up looking overdone and cheap — "Especially if they are very bright, if they reflect off shiny surfaces, or if, worst of all, the individual hot spots of a chain of LEDs are visible," adds Marlene.
This lovely outdoor floor lamp is all you need to bring some subtle illumination to your outdoor space.
Glow as you go with these smart, transportable lanterns.
Bring some texture and intrigue to your outdoor setup with this lovely rattan outdoor pendant light.
2. Color-Changing Bulbs
The idea of those remote-controlled, color-changing LED lights may be cool in theory, but in practice, they look more like something you'd find in an 18-year-old's dorm room than in a gorgeous, modern garden design.
There's an obvious convenience to these types of lights, with their minimal setup and low price points, but that is in itself the issue: they're too obvious. What people once valued for their novelty has now become synonymous with mass-produced, landfill-bound fast-fashion-style retailers.
"The trend for color-changing outdoor lighting has increased, but one style I do not want to see is color-changing globe ground spikes," notes Alina Enache, co-founder of Lamp Genius. "Not only are people installing too many of them, which injects too much light and too many colors into the garden design, but they are also being used to replace accent lighting, which lights the garden in a natural, subtle way."
The issue with these color-changing lights is that there is absolutely nothing subtle about them, and even the most thoughtfully designed outdoor living room can look like a tacky clubhouse under the artificial glow of a neon LED light.
Instead of relying on artificial colors, opt for a colorful light like this.
These cool, spherical lights bring so much brightness and life into any garden.
Mimic the romantic look of a candle with this elegant table lamp.
3. Harsh, Cold Lighting
There's nothing that can throw off the vibe faster than a harsh, cold light fitting — a pet peeve of both indoor and outdoor lighting designers. When you think of summer evenings spent outdoors, the image is one of warmth and coziness, not the bright harshness of a pure white bulb.
Often, this is not an intentional design choice, but a lack of understanding about what you're buying. And even the professionals aren't above this mistake, as designer Mackenzie Collier shares: "My wife ordered outdoor solar garden path lights on Instagram, and while they looked great in the online ad, in person the color temperature is too cool, so it fights with the ambiance of the space."
These cooler-toned fittings will make your space feel sterile and unwelcoming, especially when they are the sole source of light in your garden.
The whole beauty of an outdoor space comes from the complex depth of the natural world, but under the harsh glow of a bright white light, this depth is completely lost, flattened under the brightness.
I love the smoky, frosted glass of these wall lights.
These clever spotlights are warmer than most and perfect outdoor uplighters for your trees.
This tiered, wooden lamp brings a lovely, soft warmth to your outdoor area.
Now we've covered what to avoid, it's time to get stuck in on our favorite outdoor lighting trends for this year. And for the rest of your design inspiration, subscribe to our newsletter.
