Best Lights to Use in Your Garden

A well-lit garden can add the perfect blend of safety, style, and ambiance to your space. So, how do you achieve the best lighting for your garden?

Garden lights can provide subtle illumination or add stylish character. Many garden lighting options are also easy to install so there's very little hassle. Some of the most popular options are spotlights and string lights.

Here are some outdoor lighting ideas that work well in gardens:

Pathway lights

Path lights add safety by brightening your paths! Their stylish appearance also offers a touch of personality to the area. They’re usually placed alongside pavement or a walkway. You can use them to highlight details of a decorative pathway while boosting curb appeal.

You can even find solar powered garden lights like some path lights!

Light stakes

Also known as stake lights, light stakes add personality and provide a sturdy support for an outdoor light fixture. Light stakes also work well in flower beds to add lighting around the edge of the garden bed or to subtly illuminate the flowers.

String lights

String lights add ambiance and character. They work well as deck lighting and make an enjoyable outdoor entertainment area. These decorative lights can brighten garden beds, wrap around trees, and suspend above seating areas.

Lantern lights

Lantern lights like hanging or post top lanterns add a vintage style to a garden. They create an enchanting atmosphere while also highlighting pathways or serving as decorative light fixtures.

Step lights

Step lights add safety and brighten your space. They provide subtle lighting to make navigating the stairs easier in the dark, so you and your guests don’t risk falling.

Accent lights

Accent lights add a touch of personality to your garden with their decorative design. They often feature unique shapes like this garden accent light that looks like a snail. These unique and fun light fixtures create character while also providing a highlighting effect.

Spotlights give off light in a focused area while floodlights flood an area with light. A spotlight works well highlighting aspects of your garden, like garden beds, trees, or statues. Flood lights illuminate larger areas, like decorative aspects of the landscape or garden, but they can often brighten general areas, like driveways.

Color temperature is measured on a scale. Common residential color temperatures range between 2700K-6500K. Lower color temperatures are warmer, or more yellow, while higher color temperatures appear cooler, or bluer. Different color temperatures work best in different areas.

A warm white works best for outdoor lights. Warm color temperatures provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Cooler, white lights work well for security lighting.

It’s recommended for outdoor and landscape lights to be between 50-700 lumens depending on what you’re using them for. For step lights, they should be around 12-100 lumens. Pathway lights need 100-200 lumens. To brighten trees, it can range anywhere from 80-120 lumens for small trees or 350-1000 lumens for tall trees.