For practicality and aesthetics, it is necessary to provide garden lighting. Illumination of trees, bushes, artificial reservoirs and the paths look very nice.
Moreover, you can admire your garden even after dark. The lighting of an area should be approached no less responsibly than the lighting of a room. A room equipped not only with a chandelier, but also with additional lighting fixtures looks much more comfortable. However, it is necessary to observe moderation, otherwise you can get the opposite effect.
To spend electric wires to illuminate a garden plot, it is necessary to lay them underground, in a previously dug trench.
The trench is made with a minimum depth of 45 cm and has a hard covering on top in the form of paths or platforms. Laying wiring under flower beds, flower beds and lawns should be done at a depth of 60 cm. To protect electrical wiring, use a flexible hose that is not afraid of temperature changes, rotting and mechanical stress.
Don't forget to prepare a place to install a machine with switches.
If you have not previously dealt with conducting electricity, it is advisable to seek help from professionals, thereby protecting yourself.
Outdoor lighting devices must be waterproof, frost-resistant and not subject to rust.
Types of garden lanterns:
- Suspended gazebos, patios or terraces fixed to the ceiling surface.
- Spotlights with directional luminous flux.
- Wall lamps designed to illuminate recreation areas.
- Floor (bollards) with a height of 30 to 60 cm.
To illuminate a small area, you should choose compact lanterns with a soft, pleasant light. Lamps with a height of more than 60 cm will cause discomfort, since the luminous flux will be located at eye level and will be blinding.
By purchasing lights with a pointed tip, you can move them around until you find the optimal location.
Pay attention not only to the decor, but also to the functionality of the lantern, otherwise it will please the eye only during daylight hours and give off an unpleasant light at night.
Pay attention to outdoor garlands, which look very impressive on a tree, arch or patio. Thus, you will create a constant presence of the holiday on the site.
Devices powered by solar batteries will free you from working with electricity and help you save money. Their light is not enough to illuminate the area, but they are quite suitable for illumination beautiful plants or decorative elements.
They are ideal for a small area that you only visit in the summer. In addition, they can be easily removed if necessary.
We invite you to watch a video that will tell you how to make an unusual garden lantern with your own hands.
Rules
An upward stream of light will illuminate tall bushes, buildings and tree crowns. Downward-directed light illuminates smaller plants. Preference should be given to warm and not very bright lighting.
When planning the lighting of a garden plot, you need to think through everything carefully. Each lantern should not only perform its direct function, but also be a decorative element, appropriately located between the plants and decorative elements Location on.
To illuminate the path, provide small size lanterns in the shape of mushrooms, otherwise it will be light everywhere except on the paths themselves.
If there is a special seating area in the garden, highlight it with soft, warm, diffused light.
Showing a little creative thinking you can turn a boring garden area into a real masterpiece.
The garden around the house has long ceased to be just a source of growing fruit and a territory for garden beds.
Competent landscape design will allow you to turn your garden into a comfortable recreation area, a playground for children or a small and cozy park.
To do this, it is not enough to properly plan your garden area and select plants. After all perfect design- this is a kind of mosaic, an important detail of which is lighting.
Thoughtful lighting of the area will not only allow you to move comfortably in the dark, but will also create a special atmosphere and emphasize the unusual shapes of shrubs and flowers that can only be seen at dusk.
Regardless of whether you bought lighting fixtures or made them yourself, it is very important that they combine functional and decorative properties, decorating your garden during daylight hours.
Using imagination and a few interesting lighting ideas, you can make the most unusual objects “light up”.
Types of site lighting:
- main lighting
- focused decorative
- lighting of garden paths and steps
- lighting for recreation areas, gazebos, patios
- illumination of a pond, masonry (hidden lamps)
- decorative
Focused mood lighting- this is directed lighting of exactly those areas of the garden that you want to highlight and place emphasis on. This could be a flower bed with bright colors, garden sculpture, pond, tree or just a green lawn.
Places of focused illumination are the first to attract the eye, so it is worth experimenting with the direction of the light, brightness and degree of diffusion. Interesting idea Such lighting can be lamps installed around trees or shrubs with a dense crown: the rays of light will emphasize the shape of the tree and create fancy shadows on the ground.
Light-accumulating lamps- one of the varieties of focused illumination. It’s easy to place such a flashlight; just stick it into the ground where you would like to illuminate it: near a topiary boxwood, along paths, on an alpine hill.
Lighting for garden paths and steps should not be too bright and blinding to the eyes. The lower the light source is to the ground, the less bright it should be. When lighting stairs, each step should be highlighted with light. Light-diffusing lanterns built into the ground or solar-powered lamps will ideally perform this function.
Lighting for recreation areas, gazebos, patios, is no less important than the lighting of the garden itself, because it is a relaxing place where you can gather in the evening or on a cloudy day. Typically, such places are located where there is less sunlight, so lamps with an electric power source are used here. By the way, you can read about recreation areas in the garden on our website!
Depending on the style and the mood you want to create, the lighting can be either spotlighted or bright, filling the entire space. Often, lamps for a recreation area are created with your own hands.
DIY lamp ideas
In any home you can always find a lot of interesting, old things that you haven’t used for a long time, but it’s a pity to throw them away... With a little imagination, you can give these items a second life.
Recently, designers have been using unusually shaped glass jars and bottles, as well as old dishes and kitchen utensils. From all this you can create unique lamps, floor lamps and even entire chandeliers. This lamp is ideal for lighting a gazebo or illuminating paths.
A lamp built into a stump, dried tree or natural stone. It looks very impressive, natural and gives a mysterious atmosphere to your site.
The light source can also be built into ceramic products. These can be as purchased figures fairy-tale heroes or garden sculptures, as well as old decorative jugs and pots.
Illumination of the pond and hidden lamps. Modern lighting will allow you to take a fresh look at the pond near your home, especially when it lights up with new colors at night. Lamps installed around a pond, floating and underwater will definitely change appearance pond and your mood.
Hidden lamps are often installed in stone or brickwork, retaining walls. Used according to direct purpose and, usually, they do not bear any decorative effect. The decor in this version of the lamp is the light itself: its direction, color, brightness.
Advice: at self-connection When connecting lighting to the electrical network, it is important to adhere to safety precautions, and if you do not have experience working with electricity, then it is better to entrust the connection to professionals.
Published by DecorateMe. Updated 09 Aug 2019. The romance of an evening garden... It comes together, like a mosaic, from many nuances, among which light plays a leading role. Unfortunately, the lighting of a summer cottage is sometimes given an undeservedly secondary place, although a “ray of light in the dark kingdom” is simply necessary in order to move freely around your property in the evening. Not to mention the fact that the beauty of plants, hidden in the dark, can light up with new colors and take on unexpected fantastic forms. You just need to skillfully “play” with light, using several interesting ideas for illumination and design of garden lamps.
Truly, garden lighting is akin to art - it can create unprecedented effects that are born from the union of plants and decorative lighting. You just need to bring to life some “educational” ideas for your dacha - with your own hands you can transform your garden so much that from being inconspicuous, no different from many others, it will turn into a fabulous corner that can touch you at any time of the day.
Evening lighting of the dacha will not only give the garden a certain mystery, but will also allow you to move around the site without fear
Your garden house and country landscape will look natural during the day and mysterious in the evening if you successfully combine the functionality of lighting with its decorative effect. What tasks are assigned to lighting a garden plot? Depending on the function and area of placement of external lamps, the following types of dacha lighting can be distinguished:
- home lighting;
- track lighting;
- lighting of stairs;
- accent lighting;
- patio lighting;
- festive lighting;
- security lighting.
Important condition proper organization dacha lighting systems are about preserving the aesthetics of the garden in daytime, that is, lamps for night illumination should not disturb the harmony country landscape. To fulfill this condition, it is enough to select lighting fixtures of a natural shape and/or made of natural materials. A widely used technique for decorative garden lighting is one that absorbs solar energy throughout the day and releases it at night in the form of a mysterious glow, flowing softly, as if from within a rock.
Original lighting placed in dense vegetation will create a cozy atmosphere in a secluded relaxation area
Aerial butterflies and dragonflies, glowing in the dark, naturally and unobtrusively coexist with garden plants
Or maybe you would prefer a group of bright butterflies on long twigs stuck into the ground, which will enliven the lawn during the day and glow at night? What do you think of a gnome with a lamp suddenly peeking out from behind a bush, or a glowing frog perched under a large leaf? Such original solutions, will give your dacha individuality and originality, to your delight and to the good envy of your neighbors.
In addition to the artistic impression, it is necessary to think through the technical side of lighting the dacha. Application alternative sources light on base solar energy- This is the most economical option for garden lighting. In addition, this type of lighting will not spoil the appearance of the site with long electrical cords stretching along flower beds and paths, since it consists of an autonomous battery pack and a group of lamps connected to it.
The unusual illumination of trees in the form of luminous wells is so mysterious that you inexorably want to look into this depth
Artificial flowers in the form of solar-powered lamps will harmoniously fit into the landscape design of the garden
It is more logical to place backlights connected to the electrical network closer to the house - to illuminate the facade, entrance lobby, terrace, since these areas require more active light, and laying a short wiring will not require significant labor costs and financial investments.
Types of lighting for garden plots
Decorative focused lighting is the most expressive lighting created by an accent beam of light and aimed at the original landscape composition– a flowerbed, pond, tree or just a beautifully shaped flower. With such directional lighting, it is important to correctly balance the intensity, color spectrum, pattern of the light spot and the location of the light source. An interesting idea for illuminating the garden could be groups of lighting fixtures located under trees with an unusual crown - in the evening, directed light will draw the silhouette of the tree and create a bizarre pattern of shadows on the ground.
Evening illumination of the garden depicts the outlines of plants so subtly that they sometimes take on a fantastic, unreal appearance.
Lighting garden paths does not imply an abundance of powerful lamps - these can be small spots or light sources built into the ground, giving only a hint of lighting on both sides of the country “fairway” and indicating the direction of movement. More careful “navigation” requires stairs, which can be illuminated by lamps mounted in the steps or in the fence flight of stairs. The main idea that can be applied is staircase lighting big amount lamps in the form of improvised candlesticks made of glass jars or tins, grouped along the edges of the steps. Such a move will give the garden a romantic ambiance in the best possible way, and making such miniature light sources with your own hands is not difficult.
Illumination of the gazebo in the garden and the path leading to it will be the key to a pleasant evening time with your family outdoors
Lighting your patio, terrace or gazebo is the way to keep your yard's recreational areas accessible in the evening, on rainy or cloudy days. Since lighting based on accumulated solar heat is not too bright, it is better to use electric light sources to illuminate common areas. These can be floor and tabletop, built-in and Spotlights or entire “garlands” of lamps suspended from the ceiling. Beautiful multi-colored bottles, complex lampshades made of plastic or wood, bright balls made of beads or an extravagant design made of shiny metal - the choice of design for central lighting in the recreation area depends only on you. Depending on what kind of atmosphere you want to give to the place of “social gathering”, the lighting can be intimate and cozy, or more festive and bright.
An unusual and slightly fantastic effect can be achieved by placing many ball lamps on long rods along the path
The main requirement for security lighting is its intensity and location in principle important places to control the security of the site - near the gate, at the entrance to the house, around the garage, along the perimeter of your property or in other places where valuable equipment or garden tools are located. As a rule, security lighting systems are formed using powerful LED lamps and are subject to certain rules - both in placement and in terms of design, so in this case it is better to choose industrial options for light sources.
It will also be useful comparative review garden lamps:
An excellent solution for illuminating a summer cottage is pots for plants that accumulate light during the day and emit it at night.
Examples of hand-made lamps
A floor lamp that has fallen into disrepair, retired kitchen utensils that have served their purpose plastic dishes and other seemingly unnecessary things will now be useful to you for the “production” of country lamps. Everything will be used - from glass containers to grandmother's sets - a little imagination, a little patience and all the rarities that have one foot in the landfill will turn into lighting fixtures that bring you light and joy.
In order to make a country lamp, you don’t need to spend a lot of money - look into your grandmother’s chest and you will find everything you need for creativity there.
Option #1 - from glass bottles
Fantasy lamps made from waste glass containers can transform your garden, and won’t cost a single penny. An ordinary glass container can be turned into an amazing lamp without any effort. Take a bottle of an original shape or an unusual color, pour multi-colored small beads, ground glass, and transparent balls onto the bottom that will reflect light. Wind the multi-colored wire around your finger to form spirals and place them in the container. Fix a small flashlight with silicone in the neck of the bottle - this will be a light source that can be conveniently turned on and off as needed.
When buying alcoholic drinks, take a closer look at the shape and color of glass bottles - because now you will need them to create homemade lamps
Interesting lampshades for pendant chandeliers can come from glass containers different forms and sizes. But how to cut off the bottom of a bottle? Yes, easily! Tie the bottle with a thin rope dipped in kerosene or gasoline at the level of the desired cut, and pour inside the bottle cold water clearly to the line marked by the rope. When you set fire to the rope, the bottle will burst and a smooth cut will form, which you only have to sand a little so as not to cut yourself. Now you can thread the electrical cord into the lampshade and connect the light bulb socket.
By cutting the bottom of a glass bottle and attaching a metal plate to a pin, you will get a convenient candle holder for lighting the garden
You can get a more powerful light source if you tie several colorful bottles with wire and hang them from the ceiling of a gazebo, patio, or summer house. If the bottle colors seem a little gloomy to you, take stained glass paints and paint the glass, showing your imagination and your innate sense of harmony. And don’t be afraid to give yourself free rein - you can always remove a not-so-successful fragment with a solvent stained glass painting and update it. It’s even better if you entrust the mission of coloring bottles to your children or grandchildren - it will be a joy for both you and the children.
A little creativity and a glass bottle will turn into an expressive Wall Light in the form of a stylized torch. To do this, a hole is drilled in a tightly screwed bottle cap, through which kerosene is poured inside and a wick made of natural rope or a stainless steel tube pre-impregnated with the same flammable mixture is filled.
By pouring a flammable mixture into a bottle and tucking the wick inside, you will create a lamp in the form of an improvised torch
The alternation of lampshade bottles with candles and flowers gives homemade chandelier on a metal frame for an unusually natural look
Why should a New Year's garland gather dust in anticipation of the next New Year? Place it in a champagne bottle and you will have an expressive lamp for your garden. Too lazy to make something for a long time, but it hurts to be original? Wind a thread or rope around the bottle absolutely randomly, but so that there are gaps left, and apply paint of your favorite color from a can onto this kind of cocoon. When your “painting” dries a little, unwind the bottle. Unusual? Go ahead.
The candle holder bottle is unique due to the idea of a candle holder in the form of a spiral, fixed in the neck with a ring
Option #2 – from glass jars
The main problem with a glass container as a base for a homemade lamp is that it has an absolutely transparent surface that does not scatter light. The task facing you in the process of making a glass lamp with your own hands is to fragmentarily decorate a transparent vessel in such a way that it, nevertheless, works in places for transmission - scatters and smoothes out the light from a candle or light bulb placed inside.
To make it easier to remove melted wax from the bottom of the candle holder, pour a little sand or pebbles into it.
What can be done with a prosaic, but beautifully shaped jar, left as a memory from the once eaten exotic pickles? It all depends on the style in which the newly-minted lamp is designed. If you want a country style, wrap the jar with jute rope, fixing it to the glass with silicone glue. Do you want vintage style? Cut long narrow strips of colorful chintz, cotton lace or guipure and “dress up” your jar in your great-grandmother’s outfit. Do you like techno style? Remove the voltage coils and diode lamps from the old TV or tape recorder - wrap the copper wire around the can. Glue cylindrical bulbs of LEDs as decoration - they will further refract and modify the flow of light, and the lamp will turn into some kind of object of alien origin.
Unlike bottles, glass jars are rarely multi-colored - paint them with bright stained glass paints
An original idea for decorating a lamp for a dacha in the pop art style - painting a jar with multi-color luminescent paints applied to inner surface glass jar in the form of spots of irregular shape. Accumulating sunlight day and night, the jars will emit a soft, unobtrusive glow, shimmering with rich shades of neon blue, pink or lemon. By arranging glass containers of different heights and diameters, painted in matching color scheme phosphors, you can create a bright compositional group in your garden, illuminating the path to your house, alpine slide or a flowerbed.
The jar, covered with a myriad of small phosphor dots, emits a soft, elegant light
Option #3 – from tin cans
After drinking beer and eating sprat in tomato sauce, do not rush to throw the cans into the trash - everything will come in handy in the dacha farm. For example, to implement extraordinary ideas in creating country lamps that can give your garden an unforgettable look.
What is needed for this? A hammer, nails of different diameters and a cylindrical piece of wood. Sketch out the motif of the design on paper - preferably it should not be a very complex closed pattern. Now attach your sketch to a tin can, and put a piece of wood inside it - it will protect the tin from deformation. By punching holes at equal distances with nails, transfer the design to the jar - you will get holes through which delicate light will leak.
An ordinary beer can can turn into an exotic lamp due to the pattern formed by small holes
Who would have thought that from the union of canned food tins and wooden clothespins this could be an unusual lamp
Option #4 – from building materials
After construction, dachas often remain different Construction Materials– cement, plaster mixtures, liquid nails, etc. You can’t store such mixtures for a long time - they quickly absorb moisture and form lumps, but you don’t even dare throw them away. Don’t despair, here are a couple of fresh ideas on how you can use building materials to benefit your business, namely, to create country lamps.
Using unnecessary remains of cement and plaster mixtures, you can make a rather original lamp
Take a large and small plastic bottle, cut off the bottom and place one inside the other, securing them with a threaded pin. Turn the resulting structure upside down and install it, say, on a tin can of a suitable diameter. Knead cement mixture and fill the space between the two bottles, shaking the mold periodically to fill it evenly. After the solution has hardened, cut the bottles and release the lampshade.
Forming separate fragments from cement mortar, connect them together - you will get an unprecedentedly beautiful patterned egg-lamp
Option #5 – made of wood and ropes
Having selected small but expressive dry twigs, stick them overlapping in a chaotic order onto a children's inflatable ball. Once the glue has set, carefully remove your design from the balloon and deflate it. The eco-style lampshade is ready, you just need to refill the light bulb and connect the lamp to the network.
Unnecessary branches from cut trees will be an excellent material for creating country lamp shaped like a ball
By the same principle, using inflatable air balloons, make a lampshade in the form of a hemisphere from jute rope. To do this, draw a border on the ball and, gradually gluing the intersections, wrap it with rope. After the glue has dried, carefully deflate the balloon and remove the rope shade from it.
Snow-white openwork rope lamps will create a festive atmosphere on your terrace or patio area
In order to make a lamp from wood, you do not need to know how to plan or saw - there are a lot of ready-made wooden semi-finished products that you just need to skillfully apply.
If you twist birch bark into a cone shape, you will get a very delicate and elegant lampshade for your lamp.
Don’t rush to get rid of stumps - you can use them not only to make a stool, but also an extravagant country lamp
Option #6 – made of plastic
Plastic bottles have been used for a long time both in tail and mane for a variety of country crafts. What our inventive people haven’t come up with, conjuring their “very skillful” hands over plastic bottles. Not wanting to lag behind the mass trend, we hasten to offer our version of “recycling” a plastic bottle by creating an extraordinary lamp.
This is an extraordinary lamp - either a hedgehog or an insect, which can be made from an ordinary plastic bottle
Plastic ball lamp. 1. Cut off the bottom 2. Glue it together 3. Bend it along the radius 4. Form a ball 5. Install it on the base 6. Connect it to the network
Lampshade for a lamp made of plastic leaves. 1. Cut out the rectangles 2. Cut out the leaves 3. Melt the edges with a soldering iron 4. Connect the leaves with wire
So, we cut the bottle into rectangles, from which we cut out leaves. We melt the edges of the sheet with a soldering iron, giving it a more natural outline. We burn 2 holes with a hot needle and thread copper wire through them without insulation. We collect branches from individual leaves and form them into a spherical shade.
Don’t rush to throw away disposable cups after receiving guests - it’s better to glue them together into a cute multi-colored lamp
Buy ping pong balls, glue several circles from them, and then connect them vertically - the futuristic chandelier is ready
An original chandelier can come from other plastic products – disposable tableware, plastic cups and ping pong balls. Due to the initially conical and spherical shape of these products, gluing them will steadily lead you to the creation of a spherical or cylindrical lamp.
Bright lamps made of multi-colored beads will help create a cheerful and relaxed atmosphere at your dacha.
String large plastic beads onto a wire, twist it into a spiral and form a spherical shade of small diameter. You might get enough original chandelier for the garden, if you arrange balls of beads different color and diameter, attaching them on long hangers to the frame.
Old CDs and records cluttering your closet are now very useful - they will make amazing lamps for the garden
Here is a unique idea for a lamp for music lovers - those whose home is littered with old music storage devices - discs and records. Surprisingly, old CDs can make a wonderful lamp. It is enough just to drill, having previously marked it with a marker, 5 holes at equal distances from each other around the circumference of the disk, not getting too close to the edge, and then fasten the disks together with wire. Such a multifaceted structure can have any diameter depending on the intended size or your patience. If the lamp is supposed to be a floor or table lamp, then glue 3-4 erasers to one of the disks that acts as a base. By hanging several disc balls on a metal plate, you will get an original futuristic chandelier to illuminate your terrace or patio area.
A corrugated plastic pipe can be perfectly transformed into a shell lamp - all you have to do is tuck the light cord into the pipe
Option #7 – from old household utensils
The most convenient thing about metal household utensils is the already existing perforation, which can create light spots of unusual beauty. A simple grater, colander or strainer are ready-made lampshades for your homemade lamps. Having disconnected the handles from the two sieves, tie them with wire - you will get a lampshade in the form of a ball. Disguise rust stains or peeling enamel by covering your creation with bronze or silver paint from a can - a retro-inspired lamp with a technogenic flavor is ready.
Drill holes in an old saucepan with a drill or insert a light bulb into a regular grater - you will create indescribable light effects
Don’t rush to throw away your grandmother’s dinnerware in creepy roses with a thin web of small cracks - glue the saucer to the cup with super glue, drill a hole for the electrical wire - and the vintage lamp will become a true decoration of a nostalgic summer house or gazebo. Even an old tureen can become an excellent lampshade for a country kitchen - carefully make a hole in its bottom, thread the electrical cord and secure the socket.
An old earthenware set that you inherited from your grandmother can be perfectly modified into a retro lamp
We hope that interesting ideas , those proposed by us will help some Plyushkins find a worthy justification for their craving for accumulating unnecessary things. Now they have the opportunity to breathe new life into old things by creating unusual lamps for their favorite garden.
If you choose the right lighting for your garden plot, it will help you not only to navigate well in the dark while walking through the gardens, but also to enjoy all their beauty and decoration.
But questions immediately arise: How to think through the installation additional light so as to leave the garden romantic and mysterious? What can be used for this?
What kind of lighting is needed? What are the lighting options? How can you use lighting to hide problem areas and highlight the brightest ones? This will be discussed in this article.
Features of security lighting
First, let's look at what types of garden lighting there are and how they work.
The first one I want to talk about is security lighting - it creates the effect of the presence of people at home.
Since it works automatically, it does not require constant supervision by the owners of the house. Quite a very interesting solution, since it only works when a person passes or drives nearby.
Functional garden lighting
The second type of garden lighting is functional. As a rule, this is lighting of individual garden paths and areas. The function is to illuminate these areas well for comfortable movement.
Mostly, paths near stairs, bridges, if any, and steep paths where it would be unsafe to move in the dark should be illuminated.
Choose not bright lighting so that it does not blind, but harmoniously illuminates all the space you need, creating a romantic and calm atmosphere.
To do this, you can opt for lamps placed on poles that will illuminate garden paths and stairs.
But, in order not to add formality, do not choose too high lanterns. Since a lantern is not a simple or small lamp, this means that it will be used all year round. Therefore, they need to be selected from high-quality and frost-resistant material.
Functional lighting can do more than just illuminate problem areas, but also to place the accents of the garden - flower beds, flower beds, trees, fountains, and in general anything you want.
But when choosing lanterns, you should pay attention to their light spectra, since they come in cold and warm shades. If you look at it this way, it seems that it doesn’t matter at all.
But on the other hand, this will help you place accents correctly, for example: to put emphasis on green trees, the best choice will be a warm spectrum of light, and to a more blue tones- cold rays.
Another great idea would be to decorate large flower pots with lighting. Just add a few glowing stones to the flowerpot and place them near stairs or benches.
A good way to decorate is by lighting trees and borders. If you have thick and tall trees, then why not use them as path lighting, thereby beautifying the trees themselves.
Lighting of architectural structures
The next type of garden lighting is architectural. If you have architectural structures in the garden, then you can illuminate them perfectly, thereby placing accents of light on the walls of the house or hellish paths.
Holiday lighting
Although the holiday lighting option is not used all year round, it will still give you joy and good mood.
facades, garden compositions, trees, benches, stairs - all this can be decorated New Year's garlands. But this composition is suitable only in winter.
Illumination from bottom to top
Top lighting can place accents on individual elements of the garden plot - relief objects, such as stone compositions, bamboo, pergolas entwined with plants.
To create a more fabulous setting, you should install the light source not very close to the object, so it will be fully illuminated.
Backlight from top to bottom
The lower illumination is the opposite of the upper one. If the upper one illuminated from bottom to top, then the lower one illuminated vice versa.
This lighting is more suitable for lighting stairs, benches, flower beds, garden paths, or can simply be used to place accents individual elements garden plot.
Photo of garden lighting
With the onset of the warm season, many people prefer to spend their free time at the dacha surrounded by nature and clean air. In addition to dacha activities during daylight hours, lighting becomes important suburban area with the onset of darkness. Some people think that they can limit themselves to ordinary incandescent light bulbs and primitive lamps installed only in the most necessary places. But if you want to create beautiful, decent, and even better quality lighting, you will have to spend money. There are many options for how to illuminate the area in the country.
Requirements
DIY country lighting must be as functional as possible, save energy and meet all safety requirements. It is important to connect it to autonomous sources of electricity. This is due to the fact that dachas are characterized by frequent power outages and therefore alternative sources are needed.
There are certain requirements according to which it is necessary to organize lighting in a summer cottage. These include the following:
- The electrical wiring used for lighting must be installed taking into account the installation rules and not pose a danger to others. Must be installed circuit breakers and RCDs, with the help of which you can protect the line from the occurrence and consequences of a short circuit, as well as de-energize the network when overloads occur in automatic mode. It will be important to ground the country house.
- The power cable must be laid in metal or plastic pipes, and also in corrugation. This is necessary to avoid mechanical damage to the wiring. Switching devices are used in the form of sockets and switches of a waterproof type.
- Do-it-yourself lighting for a summer cottage must be arranged in such a way that there is free access to the inspection of all its elements. The lamps used must be connected in such a way that it is possible to switch them off locally, as well as in an emergency.
- If lighting of the area will be carried out around the entire perimeter and in areas of the future lawn, it will need to be designed and installed before landscaping work begins. This is due to the fact that the cable is laid in pipes and underground, and this leads to disruption of garden decor.
- To illuminate the area on the site, it is better to use lamps that save energy. The best option counts LED lightening or solar powered light sources. This solution allows you to save about 70% of electrical energy.
Organizing a street lighting plan
Simply choosing lighting fixtures to illuminate the area at night is not enough. Before the beginning installation work You will need to draw up a plan for the placement of lamp posts and poles along the entire perimeter of the site, as well as lay out routes for laying cables in the ground.
First of all, you will need to decide on the areas of required lighting, the connection points and connections of the electrical lines of each lighting device. This can be done using waterproof sockets, hidden from direct exposure to moisture, or switching boxes buried in the ground or located on lamp posts. Marking the location of switches is organized at the discretion of the owner of the site, based on the ease of their use.
To conveniently draw a diagram with the help of which the lighting of the territory will be arranged, you can use a photocopy of the plan of your site. If this is not available, you will need to draw a plan on a scale of 1:100, which will indicate all existing buildings. The lighting scheme is created taking into account the future landscape design. It is necessary to take into account the places where recreation areas will be located, such as gazebos, terraces, ponds, and also take into account the presence of country paths.
The diagram indicates the location of future lamps. Typically, each point on the map is designated by the letter L. In addition to the light sources, the location of the switches is indicated - B; sockets – P; if necessary, you can indicate motion sensors, bells, surveillance cameras, etc. on the map.
When designing Special attention attention should be paid to lighting the entrance to the house, the most dangerous places on the site, and the gates. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the installation height of the lamps, since in winter they can be covered with snow. Illumination on fences is not recommended. This is due to the glare effect of the lamps.
In any case, the decision on how to make lighting for a dacha depends on the personal preferences of the owner of the site, his imagination and Money, which he is ready to invest in it. If you are unable to properly organize the lighting of the area, it is better to contact specialists who will do it quickly and efficiently.
Basic lighting options for a dacha
It is worth considering that the lighting of a summer cottage can have different functions, and therefore, depending on one or another option, it is necessary to select all lamps according to the type of their purpose. There are several types of lighting in a suburban area:
- General. The main function of this lighting is to organize visible zones on the site for safe movement in the dark, as well as carrying out various works and spending free time. Lamps intended for these purposes should be installed near the entrance to the house, along garden paths and near the entrance to the territory.
- Marking. This type of lighting is usually used to emphasize some decorative elements and landscape of a summer cottage. These can be steps, benches, boundaries of a parking space for a car, etc. Most often, lanterns on small legs, “glowing stones,” and pendant lamps are used for such lighting. It is better to use lamps that have LEDs. This will allow you to save on electricity and choose the necessary colors for the lighting.
- Security. The main task of such lighting country house and the surrounding area is to protect the site from intruders. Such lamps are installed so that all main areas are illuminated: the threshold of the house, garage and entrance gate, parking space. Flashlights can be used general purpose, but for the effect of surprise they use motion sensors, which create the impression of a person’s presence in the house. It is possible to configure the operation of the lighting system or its individual elements in automatic mode. This is possible thanks to the installation of a time relay, which will turn on specific lighting groups at a given time.
- Decorative. This type of lighting includes lamps, lamps and lanterns, which are installed mainly in places where it is necessary to emphasize landscape design, near bodies of water, in areas where people spend their leisure time. Such lighting devices are not aimed at illuminating the area, but only serve as lighting and decoration. Currently, there are many lamps of this type, for every taste and color.
Types of lamps
Backlight dacha area should not only perform decorative and security functions, but also have economic efficiency. Many people have already begun to abandon incandescent lamps, as they consume a large amount of electricity and often burn out. Today there are many options for replacing them. These include the following types of lamps:
- halogen and fluorescent - have a long service life and consume less electricity compared to incandescent lamps;
- lamps with LEDs and LED strips– their main advantage is a bright glow and low electricity consumption, and their service life is the longest among competitors. Some types of lamps have the ability to adjust their brightness;
- fiber optic systems have recently appeared on the market and are already in great demand. They can be used in almost every lighting situation.
All lamps can be classified according to certain criteria, for example, by the place of their installation and power supply.
Installation is divided into the following categories:
- Wall lights;
- floor light sources;
- hanging lanterns;
- spotlights that shine with a scattering beam;
- fiber optic systems.
Based on the power source, luminaires can be divided into the following types:
- electric – the main type of street lighting in a summer cottage;
- lamps powered by solar panels– easy to install, portable, do not consume electrical energy, but are quite expensive;
- candles in decorative jars are part of a romantic design and require constant attention.
Due to the constant impact of weather conditions on street lighting, it is necessary to choose lamps that are intended for external use and have a sealed housing that will not allow moisture to get inside.
Solar powered lamp How to make original lighting with your own hands?
The cost of most garden lamps becomes an obstacle for many in arranging their dacha with decorative lighting. Don’t be upset, because you can make a little effort, use your imagination and use the tools at hand to create interesting design solutions street lamps. Let's look at the main ways to create decorative lighting with your own hands.
A fairly common option is a lamp made from a bottle with an interesting shape and a garland inserted into it. The void in the bottle is filled with exotic material; you can use beads or some beautiful balls. If there is no garland, use a small flashlight that can be inserted into the neck.
A very simple and beautiful option is a lamp made from an original glass jar. Any interesting material will be suitable to fill its contents, be it sand, stones of different colors or even pebbles. A candle is placed inside the jar, and for greater decoration it can be tied around the outside with rope or lace material.
There is another option for using cans. To obtain a beautiful effect, it is necessary to paint it from the inside with luminescent paints. You can make a variety of patterns. In the dark, you get an original glow.
Lanterns made from tin cans are quite interesting. To create them you will need the jars themselves, garlands or candles. To create original lighting, you will need to make holes or patterns on such a lamp using a nail so that light leaks through them.
