Light
Up - Recent Review from Exotic Gardening Magazine
Having blown a small fortune on mouth-watering plants, you'd think
you'd be able to sit back and admire them. Trouble is, when most of
us have a few moments leisure to enjoy the garden, it's generally dark.
Not in Peter Reid's back garden. It has seen the light.
Oh c'mon, we've all done it... strolled round the garden on a balmy
summer night, chilled glass of something cheeky to the point of impertinence
in hand, trying to admire the garden in, er, pitch darkness. Not much
fun, is it? Not to mention the dangers: a head-on collision with a Gunnera
can give you a nasty jolt, but stagger into a Yucca and you're talking
A&E.
The simple answer is to put in some lighting. Thing is, like most simple
answers, it leads to lots of difficult supplementary questions.
Having dipped a toe into the subject, I'm persuaded the subject of
garden lighting is complicated enough to take its place on the curricula
of some of our new universities.
So the lighting scheme showed here is only one solution. In fact one
of the cool things about garden lighting is that, rather like exotic
gardening itself, there are few rules. Generally speaking, if you want
to light something, you can - leaves, lawns, tree trunks, architectural
features, flowers, fountains, ponds, pergolas, patios, paths, you name
it. The hard part is deciding what not to Iight. And that's only the
first of many decisions...
Decision 1- What not to light?
An easy one. I didn't want to light paths, ponds or fountains because
I haven't got any. The patio is going to be re-worked next year, so
no point lighting that. I didn't want to light the lawn - why on earth
would you want to? Besides, it's not much of a lawn these days - more
a winding grass path. And as the house is a 1930s semi, I'm kind of
short on classical columns to caress with subtle highlighting.
So that left me with just the plants, which was fine by me. Like most
exoticists, I reckon plants are what gardening's all about.
Decision 2 - But which plants?
Oh the big ones, obviously. Mmm, there again...? The biggest things
in my garden are currently a giant Rhubarb (Gunnera manicata) and a
clump of hardy Bananas (Musa basjoo) and Spanish Reed (Arundo donax).
Sure, they look traffic-stopping in summer, but in winter they're about
as attractive as a morning hangover. Bearing in mind that winter's the
time when you really get your garden lighting money's worth - you can
turn them on at 4pm - I decided everything to be lit must be evergreen
and consoled myself with the thought that maybe the Bananas and Gunnera
would get a bit of light spill.
Decision 3 - What kind of mood?
There's a little bit of Las Vegas in all of us, but be honest: do you
really want your garden to look like Caesar's Palace? I'm trying to
create a jungle mood and so, reluctantly, had to concede the Golden
Nugget Look might somehow jar.
What I needed was something eerie and dramatic - operatic even. The
key here is to resist the temptation to over-light. You need some areas
of darkness between the pools of light to let the garden retain a bit
of mystery. Otherwise it'll look just sassy rather than sexy.
Decision 4 - How many lights?
This is where the going gets tougher. One way to figure out how many
lights you need is to take your budget, deduct the price of cable, transformers
and labour, then divide the remainder with the price of the fittings
you've taken a shine to. It's a crude approach, but might be the only
way if you're do a tight budget - you can always add more lights later.
A more sophisticated tactic is to amble round the garden looking for
likely candidates for the spotlight which, in my case, meant evergreens.
Remember you need some pools of darkness, so you can't light everything.
And bear in mind the overall scheme needs to be in some kind of balance.
That doesn't necessarily mean symmetrical - in fact avoid symmetry if
you want a natural look. But if all your lights end up on one side of
the garden, try again. You might find drawing a rough plan of your garden
helps. In the end I settled for 11 lights. I thought that sounded a
lot - the garden is only about 35 feet square - but they turned out
about right.
Decision 5 - What kind of lighting effects?
Things now get really tricky because you have choices.
Uplighting: I opted mainly for uplighting, which means placing the
light fitting on the ground in front of the plant, then shining the
light up onto it - or into it. This works well for plants attractive
enough - and big enough - for this kind of star treatment.
Cross Lighting: This isn't when you install the fittings in a bad mood.
I used it to send light up the trunk of the big Dicksonia antartica.
This needed two uplights either side of the trunk, placed slightly towards
the side I wanted lit to get a three-dimensional effect. Using only
one fitting would make it look flat, apparently. You'd use the same
approach for lighting a lawn, although the fittings would be further
apart. The fronds at the top also catch the light, giving a rather fetching
'giant lampshade' look.
Back Lighting: This is when you put the light fittings behind the plant
you want to light. Also called silhouetting, it creates an altogether
moodier effect. I used backlighting for a bed which doesn't yet have
anything dramatic enough to uplight. In a year or two I can always redirect
the lights - there's some slack in the cable so individual fittings
can be moved about a bit.
Down Lighting: This, as the name suggests, is when you shine light
down onto a plant. I've used it once - rather cleverly, I thought -
to solve a dilemma. I wanted to light a Magnolia rostrata, partly because
it deserves it, and partly to keep the lighting scheme in balance. The
problem was the Magnolia is only two feet tall. The solution was a pole
light which I'm currently shining down on to a Kniphofia northiae, but
which in summer, when the Magnolia is bigger, I can direct up into its
leaves.
Floodlighting: Essentially using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Fine
in football stadia, but a bit unsubtle for the garden. I didn't even
consider it.
Decision 6 - Okay, let's go shopping
First step was to grit my teeth, put on ill-fitting sportswear to blend
in with the other punters and visit the DIY sheds. This was in August
when they're already bringing in their winter ranges. Garden lighting,
apparently, is a summer product, so the pickings were slim. You can
see what I found in Do-it-Yourself?. None of them looked up to the task
I had in mind.
Next step was to call a couple of garden lighting specialists. Here
it pays to shop around. The first quote I received was about double
my budget. Then I called Mike Flitcroft at the Garden Lighting Company.
This is essentially an e-commerce based lighting retailer, stocking
products from several quality upmarket manufacturers. Helpfully, Mike
will also give you a hand with design and technical issues at no extra
charge if you send him a plan of what you want lighting. He can also
do a site visit to check out electrical supply, asses cable runs advise
on design and send you a detailed quotation accompanied by digital photos
showing the layout, but be prepared for a charge of between £100-£250,
depending on where you are and the size of your garden. (May sound a
lot but can save you a fortune if you get things wrong) GLCo also offer
a full installation service by qualified electricians experienced in
all aspects of outdoor electrical applications.
In my case, all it took was about a 15 minute chat and everything was
sorted. I didn't have to worry about light wattages, beam widths, cable
size or transformer specifications (see The Science Bit) - Mike took
care of all that. He also later threw in a site visit for free because
he happened to be a mere 100 miles away. Dedicated or what? The fittings
arrived in a matter of days.
Decision 7 - What finish for your fittings?
Again, you have choices - black, green, stainless steel or copper. I
wanted my fittings to look unobtrusive, so although tempted by black,
I plumped for green powder-coated aluminium. I used more expensive copper
fittings which will dull down to a verdigris finish for the pole light
and one spot light because they're in highly visible locations. I also
got a couple of glare guards which, while you don't usually need them,
are handy for uplights right at the front of a border.
As for the cable, it comes in black. You can bury it or cover it in
a mulch, but I reckon it's pretty invisible and I like the idea of knowing
where it is when I'm wielding a spade.
Decision 8 - Coloured lights?
Forget it, unless you want your garden to look like Blackpool, although
I guess they might come in handy for things like statues or buildings.
Coloured bulbs are dear - little change from a tenner - and are only
available in narrow beam.
Decision 9 - How to install it?
Simple - get a qualified electrician, preferably one who specialises
in garden lighting. Having seen the complexity of the kit that needs
installing, doing-it-yourself isn't a sensible option.
Garden Lighting Company offer complete service from:- Direct Sales
– Consultation – Design – Plus Installation by qualified
electricians experienced in the fitting of outdoor lighting. GLC can
also design you a bespoke lighting scheme from your own plans. Just
send them a copy of your plans together with your ideas, which will
be returned together with a detailed quotation.
Garden Lighting Company also offer technical advice with respect to
the fittings and their function. Understandably if you wish to use a
local electrician or DIY, Garden Lighting Company do not accept liability
or responsibility for the installation!
Consultancy and Design service available throughout the UK. For details
call 01706 227 525
Decision 10 - Throw that switch
Was it worth it? Judge for yourself. Personally, I'm tickled pink. Brilliant.
The Kit
All the equipment for my system was supplied by the Garden Lighting
Company from their Hunza range (manufactured in New Zealand). The system
comprised:
9 green powder-coated Hunza Adjustable Spike Spot lights (£66.98
each)
1 copper Hunza Adjustable Spike Spot light (£98.70)
1 copper Hunza Pole Lite (£142.18)
2 green powder-coated Hunza Glare Guards (£21.15 each)
2 x 300 Watt Direct Burial Transformers (£164.50 each)
50 metres of 4mm cable at £1.20 per metre (£60 total)
Total equipment cost was £1218.54 (including VAT), plus the cost
of one day's installation by GLCo's installation contractor.
Though far pricier than DIY alternatives, you really do get what you
pay for. The two robust transformers give ample capacity to add pond
and patio lighting when I get round to sorting out the hardscaping next
year.
The thick 4mm cable makes any voltage drop unnoticeable. The fittings
are solid, easily adjusted and discreet. At 50 Watts, they're also powerful
- vital to cope with the thick foliage and dense planting.
To Contact the Garden Lighting Company/Eclipse ring 01706 227525, or
visit their web site at www.gardenlighting.co.uk.
The Science Bit
Low-voltage versus mains
I opted for a low-voltage system. Frankly, there was no contest. I like
the clean white light of halogen. You won't electrocute yourself if
you cut the cable by mistake. It's a lot cheaper to run - at least 50%
(some say up to 80%), more efficient ...a mains system equivalent to
mine would be like running a 2kW electric fire. The light bulbs last
much longer. Also, mains cable has to be buried at least a spade's depth
and the thought of digging trenches all over the garden simply doesn't
bear thinking about.
Transformers
With a low-voltage system you need a transformer to take the voltage
down to 12 volts. The power of the transformer dictates how many lights
you can have - for example, a 500 Watt transformer can run 10 x 50 Watt
lights. Mine are totally weatherproof and are designed to be buried
- preferably as near to the first light as possible. In my case, it
was easier to put them in the shed.
Cable
This comes in different thicknesses. We used a high specification 4mm
cable to minimise voltage drop which can make each light along the cable
dimmer than its predecessor.
Bulb wattages and beam widths
Low voltage bulbs come in 10, 15, 20, 35, 50 and 75 Watts. The higher
the wattage, the brighter the light. Low wattages are suitable for lighting
areas like decking and steps, but for uplighting lush foliage you need
higher wattages. Bulbs also come in three beam widths. The narrowest
is 12 degrees, which we used to uplight the tree fern trunk. For all
the other fittings we used 38 degree beams. The widest beam -60 degrees
- would be suitable for cross lighting a lawn
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