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Backyard lighting design


15 ways to illuminate beautifully |

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(Image credit: John Cullen Lighting)

Clever backyard lighting ideas can quickly transform your yard and max up its potential as an extra space to enjoy in the evening. The right lighting can spotlight focal points such as trees and planting and help to zone different areas for relaxing, al fresco cooking or gathering for drinks. 

Discreet up-lights can be used to enhance plants and trees, adding drama as their shapes will take on architectural qualities when thrown into relief. The same goes for pieces of garden art or sculpture, which can become key focal points of the night garden if you use the right lighting to draw attention to them.

You can also create a relaxed atmosphere if you use recessed lighting to give your backyard ideas an indoor feel that's perfect for defining a welcoming space when you're entertaining friends. There's a practical element to good lighting too, as it can be used to light the way and frame entrances.

Our expert backyard lighting ideas to help you create a wonderfully lit night time garden that's a real design feature.

Backyard lighting ideas

The time to plan your backyard lighting is when you are scouting for backyard landscaping ideas. This is because planning and installing backyard lighting will require some upheaval, unless you go purely for solar outdoor lighting ideas.

'Our backyards are now being used much more for socializing and entertaining, so there’s an increased focus on how they transform after dusk. Incorporating a lighting scheme into your design can bring a new ambience to your garden – and of course it's practical too,' explains John Wyer, CEO of garden designers Bowles & Wyer .

With so many lighting landscape ideas to choose from, keep in mind the look you want to create and its chosen purpose when planning how to landscape your backyard. This may be to highlight a path, form a focal point such as enhancing a plant or piece of garden art, zone a space such as a relaxation area or guide your way down some steps or along a path.

'Clever but discreet backyard lighting can add a further dimension and drama to your garden,' says garden designer Charlotte Rowe . 'It helps to extend the life of a garden, creating an atmospheric space or outdoor room even after dark.' 

Whatever you hope to achieve one thing is for sure – every backyard needs good lighting to help you make the most of your space at night. So why not create a series of impressive focal points and help define your space with our selection of stunning backyard lighting ideas?

1. Focus attention on the patio

(Image credit: Terrain)

Even the simplest of patio lighting ideas can create an intimate, cozy feel that will invite guests to stay at the table. 

'Backyard string light ideas, draped over your outdoor dining area, or woven into the greenery growing on fences and walls, is an easy backyard lighting retro-fit – all you need to ensure is that the lighting is suitable for outdoor use,' says H&G's Gardens Editor Rachel Crow.

2. Light up the backyard at dusk

(Image credit: Charlotte Rowe Garden Design)

This stunning contemporary space is perfect for anyone looking for sloped backyard ideas. It features a sleek modern water feature, raised dining platform and smart planting that all benefits from being discreetly lit as soon as daylight starts to fade. Make sure your backyard lighting ideas include built-in timers to add automatic atmosphere at dusk. It's a small detail that makes a big difference.

'This garden design shows how important it is to have lighting even when it's not quite dark,' says garden designer Charlotte Rowe. 'There is lighting in the water feature which plays with the movement in the water and highlights the stepping stone. The hedging and trees in the lower garden are also lit with spike spots for added drama.'

3. Combine backyard lighting with a fireplace

(Image credit: Terrain)

A wonderful way to create a focal point in your backyard is with lighting that centers around outdoor fireplace ideas or backyard fire pit ideas.

'This is perfect in a smaller or courtyard space,' says Homes & Gardens' Editor in Chief Lucy Searle. 'You may not need much more lighting in your backyard than this. Of course, you won't always want to light the fire, especially on warm nights, so ensure the backyard lighting is sufficient to illuminate the space cozily without it. You can always fill the hearth with candles to create extra glow.'

4. Create a magical space

(Image credit: John Cullen Lighting)

Stunning backyard lighting adds another dimension to this sunken garden, creating an enchanting space for entertaining and helping to bring the garden to life at night. The lighting scheme, designed by John Cullen Creative Director Sally Storey, brings together both inside and out, picking out the key features throughout the space to enhance the overall effect.

The path to the outdoor seating area and kitchen beyond is lit with floor lights to guide you through the space. The architectural nature of the trees and sculptures is emphasized with spiked spotlights to softly light the surrounding area. A subtle glow is created under the seating area which adds another interesting dimension.

The most flexible solution for backyard lighting is often to use spiked lights which are repositioned as the seasons change to ensure you highlight the best effects. This design shows how lighting can be used in this way to pull together a space cohesively and is packed with backyard lighting ideas you can steal.

5. Light up a pergola

(Image credit: Maze Living)

Pergola ideas are a great way to add shelter in a backyard, whether from the sun in hot weather, or from rain on cooler days. They can also be warmer to sit beneath at night, which means working backyard lighting ideas into their design.

One way to do so is to have the pergola designer work lighting into the structure, as above; gazebo lighting ideas make for great inspiration for this type of lighting design. Another is to consider including lighting fixtures that could fit seamlessly indoors (looks-wise) into your outdoor living room ideas.  

6. Enhance a focal point

(Image credit: Charlotte Rowe Garden Design)

Using a combination of decorative lighting effects always produces the best results. Accent lighting lets you create drama to enhance a sculpture at the end of a garden path, for example, while recessed lights in the gravel enhance the starkly silhouetted trunks of a row of pleached trees.  

'The flat-topped umbrella plane trees down this avenue are up-lit with the light softly grazing their trunks. This leads your eye down the avenue to the focal point urn at the end,' says garden designer Charlotte Rowe. 'The large timber arbor on the right is also enhanced by strong ambient lighting.'

Lighting a canopy of trees overhead such as here is always magical too, lending a sense of enchantment that's perfect for enhancing space in small backyards.

7. Be creative with deck lighting ideas

(Image credit: Living Gardens)

Deck lighting ideas can be fitted flush into the deck as uplighters, highlighting, for safety reasons, the edge of the deck or the edge of stair risers. They can also be used with directional fittings to spotlight container plants displayed on the deck.

However, there are more imaginative ways of lighting a deck, such as this downlit idea, above. This creates a softer result, and shows off the warm color of the wood. 

'The temperature of your backyard lighting bulbs are a consideration,' says Rachel Crow. 'LEDs are often cool-colored, but if you want to create an inviting look, I would suggest buying bulbs with a warmer, yellower light.'

8. Zone your space with lights

(Image credit: Bowles Wyer)

'Carefully placed backyard lighting can effectively zone your space. It creates small intimate areas nestled in foliage, almost like beads on a necklace,' says garden designer John Wyer. 'The best way to do this is to think about purpose – dining, lounging, a water feature. Or you could even give a new lease of life to a winding pathway by adding subtle spotlights.'

Lighting can add a completely different mood to your backyard too and should be used to accentuate the form and texture that you’ve created in your garden design. In larger backyards it can be used to add a sense of mystery. Where does the winding path lit by recessed lights lead to? What is that stunning spot-lit tree in the distance that demands a closer look?

Lighting is your best friend when it comes to staging your backyard for a garden party too. Nothing sets the scene better than an outdoor space lit by glowing lights.

9. Use lighting to transform a courtyard 

(Image credit: Charlotte Rowe/Light-IQ)

Inspirational and innovative lighting can be used to work with existing architecture such as the walls of this enclosed courtyard ideas, showing that no matter how small your garden is it can be transformed into an exceptionally lit space.

'This long water rill has spotlights under each of the timber pontoons that cross the water and an uplight for the water spout at the end. This helps to take your eye down the water feature to the wall at the end,' says garden designer Charlotte Rowe. This creates the impression that the space is bigger than it actually is.

'We have also up-lit the multi-stem Amelanchier trees and the pleached hornbeams at the end of the garden, with the light grazing the old stock brick walls around the garden,' adds Charlotte. The result shows that clever backyard lighting ideas that pay attention to smaller details can be transformative.

10. Create an outdoor space with an indoor feel

Courtyard garden by Osada Design, with lighting by John Cullen Lighting

(Image credit: Osada Design/John Cullen Lighting)

A blended indoor-outdoor entertaining area is perfect for a relaxed atmosphere such as the one here in this sheltered courtyard space by Osada Design and John Cullen Lighting. It's a real retreat from city life.

When night falls, a sophisticated lighting system adds drama, illuminating the trees and the movement of water, highlighting planting in pots as well as the main architecture of the building, while creating magical shadows and making a space to be enjoyed at all hours of the day.

It's a unique backyard that uses planting, water and lighting to add drama, turning a small area into an extra special place for entertaining.

11. Go subtle for a relaxing spa effect

(Image credit: Charlotte Rowe Garden Design)

As relaxation pools go, this one has to be high on our wish list. Who wouldn't want to step along that magically lit path and slip into the whirlpool spa to ease away the stresses of the day? We love the retreat-like feel of it, which is enhanced by the addition of lanterns and candles around the edges.

'This spa has a light inside it to give it form but there are also up-lit pleached pear trees around it,' says garden designer Charlotte Rowe. 'We also always recommend that natural lighting in the form of lanterns and night lights are used in addition to electric lighting.'

When it comes to backyard lighting ideas, don't forget battery operated flameless candles as they're one of the easiest ways and best backyard ideas on a budget to create the right mood. You can set the timers on them so they come on automatically at dusk too.

12. Throw the spotlight on trees

(Image credit: Alun Callender/Future)

Discreet backyard lighting ideas can be used to create a showpiece for a welcoming ambience in the evening garden. Trees take on architectural qualities when lit up from beneath, the angled uplighters enhancing the shape of leaves and the structure of trunks and branches. This will add drama that can be enjoyed from inside the house too.

Choose uplighters that are recessed into the ground. Alternatively set lights on moveable spikes for illuminating the trunks and branches of specimen trees, as they can be shifted both to suit the mood and according to the seasons. When one tree has had its moment simply switch the focus to another one by shifting the light.

13. Illuminate the pool at night time

(Image credit: John Cullen Lighting)

Pool lighting ideas are so inviting for a night-time dip and if you're entertaining in the garden add a Hamptons-like vibe when dusk falls. What could be more alluring than a well-lit pool?

In this design by John Cullen Lighting the trees bordering the pool are also lit up with spotlights to emphasize their architectural qualities, while up-lighters are used on the house to add a welcoming glow. 

In the distance a combination of spike floodlights and spotlights enhance the perimeter planting, helping to pull the whole look together seamlessly.

14. Use different layers for the best effects

James Alexander-Sinclair/Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architect

(Image credit: James Alexander-Sinclair/Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architect)

This small split level garden uses mellow sandstone for the paving and steps that looks spectacular bathed in warm light at night. 'Lighting is a very important part of this backyard as it gives a new dimension and feel to the space,' explains landscape architect Stefano Marinaz . 

For this project there were three different channels of lighting, one for the trees, one for the steps and bench, and the third for the recessed lights at the back of the yard so the client could control what they wanted on/off independently from the other group of lights.  

'The LED lights used for this project consisted of a sequence of recessed spotlights along the steps from the first floor down to the ground floor level of the garden,' explains Stefano. 'We included a spike LED light under each of the multi-stem Amelanchier trees.

'Underneath the limestone solid block seating we had a recessed channel for an LED strip light. At the end of the garden we used some recessed small uplights to wash the timber cladding.' 

Look at backyard lighting ideas in terms of different layers for spectacular results to achieve an effect like the one in this space.

15. Highlight your home's architecture

(Image credit: Future / Mark Bolton )

Backyard lighting ideas aren't just about showing off garden features, such as plants and containers. You should also consider how the lighting might show off your home. 

'This type of backyard lighting can focus on the house,' says Lucy Searle. 'But it might also be used to illuminate other structures within your property, such as a pool house or garden room. Doing so won't just allow you to see the beauty of your home's architecture in a different light – literally – it will also make your outdoor space feel larger at night.'

How do you illuminate a backyard?

To light a backyard, first decide on the look you want to achieve and which areas demand special attention in terms of outdoor lighting. Choose what you want to throw the spotlight on, whether that's trees, an entrance, a pergola or a water feature.

Draw up a plan, working out what each area needs, then talk through your ideas with an electrician. Unless you’re using solar-powered lights you’ll need a power supply which means outdoor sockets and a switch plus armored cabling for safety. This will need to be installed professionally. 

LED lights are energy efficient and there is now a huge range available to choose from. If your garden is sunny consider solar-powered lighting but remember it’s not such a good option in winter. Avoid flooding the garden with light as it can look too harsh and you won't achieve the type of ambient glow that works best.

How can I light my backyard without electricity?

Backyard lighting has been revolutionized by improved LEDs, which are energy efficient and one of the safest options for outdoors without needing electricity cables and a power supply. So if you are wondering how much outdoor lighting costs, this will be a consideration.

Look for warm white LED bulbs that can be clipped to outdoor structures like fences or pergolas so you can make more of your space in the evening by creating a more intimate setting. Choose inter-connecting sets if you want an easy option for lighting a bigger party space. To create atmosphere also consider flameless electric candles or real candles in hurricane lamps.

With the exception of solar powered lighting and candles, all other garden lights need to be connected to the mains. Solar lights can be used to edge paths and patios, and enhance planting. Some are suitable to use as spotlights too. They’re most effective in an open spot that gets enough sunlight and naturally their performance is not as good in winter.  

There’s now a huge choice of LED lights available that work well for backyard lighting ideas, including a range of quality ones can last up to 20 years. 

Lifestyle journalist Sarah Wilson has been writing about gardens since 2015. As well as homesandgardens.com she's written for Gardeningetc.com, Livingetc.com, Easy Gardens and Modern Gardens magazines. Her first job on glossy magazines was at Elle, during which time a visit to the legendary La Colombe d'Or in St-Paul-de-Vence led to an interest in all things gardening. Later as lifestyle editor at Country Homes & Interiors magazine the real pull was the run of captivating country gardens that were featured. 

30 Outdoor Lighting Ideas to Brighten Up Your Yard

By

Erica Puisis

Erica Puisis

Erica Puisis writes about home products for The Spruce and specializes in interior design and plant care. She's contributed to Forbes and smart home blogs like Smart Home Solver and TechDigg.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 06/03/22

The Spruce / Christopher Lee Foto

Outdoor lighting is an important aspect of yard and garden design. The right fixtures or features can add ambiance, while also providing functional lighting for use and safety purposes. It can illuminate walkways, outdoor dining rooms, patios, and structures like pergolas and arbors. Get inspired with these top outdoor lighting ideas.

What to Consider Before Installing Outdoor Lights

First, assess features in your yard to emphasize with lights. For example, the pool, spa, and steps are key areas to illuminate for safety purposes. Also, consider highlighting plants, architectural features, and outdoor rooms. In some areas you might want to add uplighting while in other areas you might be aiming to silhouette shapes. Purpose will dictate what type of fixture you need.

Prior to choosing lights, contact your area's building department for any local codes that dictate lighting types or levels. Once you know the kinds of lights you can install, play around with light strands or clip-on lamps in different areas of your yard, positioning them at various levels to see how lighting looks in the space. Remember to practice basic lighting safety, such as only using outdoor bulbs and being mindful of electrical safety when water is present.

How to organize lighting in a private yard?

Proper organization of lighting in the yard of a private house is the key not only to safety, but also to the attractiveness of the site. If you want to make the illumination of the territory with your own hands, the first step is to study some of the nuances associated with the choice of street lamps, as well as the option of courtyard lighting. Next, we will provide for your attention some practical tips with photo ideas for street lighting at home.

Determine the purpose of the lamps

First of all, you need to decide why you want to put the light in the courtyard of a private house. Lighting of the territory of the site can be decorative, security, functional or even festive.

The most important is functional lighting, which is responsible for the safety of movement around the yard. This category includes lighting of garden paths, steps and porches. Most often, the owners of private houses illuminate such objects with lamps on short legs, which complement the landscape design of the site during the daytime, and effectively perform their function at night. To save money on outdoor lighting, it is also recommended to use solar-powered lamps (on the last photo):

The next, no less important option for lighting the courtyard of a private house is security lighting. In this case, lamps on poles are used, aimed at the perimeter of the entire site, the parking lot and the main entrance. In order to save on electricity and understand in time that there is an outsider on your site, it is recommended to use LED spotlights with a motion sensor. Such luminaires turn on the light only when there is movement in the detection zone of the sensor. You can see how the security courtyard lighting of a residential building looks like on the following photo examples:

As for the decorative lighting of the yard, it is used just to emphasize the most important objects of the garden. An original solution would be to install lamps in ponds, recreation areas, inside fountains and garden sculptures. In this case, there are no special requirements for lamps, the main thing is that they do not contradict the overall landscape design and illuminate all elements of the yard in a balanced way.

Festive lighting of the courtyard area, in fact, as well as decorative, consists in decorating trees in the garden, a residential building, fences and garden buildings. The most popular fixtures in this case are street garlands and pendant lights. Most often, this lighting option is used for birthdays and New Years, when you need to create a thematic atmosphere. The best ideas for decorating the yard for the holiday are provided below:

We also recommend watching a video that shows even more ideas for using street lamps:

The best garden lighting options . Firstly, they must be outdoor - dust and moisture-proof. Secondly, they should be economical - consume as little electricity as possible and at the same time illuminate the yard area well. We recommend that you choose spotlights with LED lamps, which are several times more economical than other light sources. A good solution would be to use motion sensors and photo relays. You can also buy a suitable lamp separately and connect a twilight switch to it. nine0003

The rest of the luminaires are selected according to design and, of course, cost. The video tells about which lamps you can choose to illuminate the yard:

Expert advice

Electrical work

We have already discussed with you how to organize lighting in the country with our own hands, where we dwelled in detail on the important points of electrical wiring. To guide the light into the courtyard yourself, we recommend that you consider the following practical tips:

  1. Before equipping the yard, be sure to plan the layout of the lamps and the route for laying wires to each of them. It is better to immediately run the cable to the connection points, so that later you do not tear the decorated garden and do double work.
  2. Wiring is best carried out in the soil so that it does not spoil the design of the site. We talked about how to run a cable underground in the corresponding article. The only thing we can add is that it is recommended to lay the cable under water bodies and flower beds at a depth of 1 meter, and not 80 cm.
  3. Light switches are best installed in the corridor so that they are not affected by bad weather conditions, and outdoor lighting control is convenient.

Otherwise, there should be no problems. If you have any questions, and you do not fully understand how to make lighting in the courtyard of a private house with your own hands, we recommend that you describe the situation in the “Question to an electrician” category so that our experts can help you with advice!

Interesting to read:

Lighting in the yard of a private house (50 photos): norms, requirements, purpose of lanterns Therefore, in this article we will consider in detail how to make lighting in the courtyard of a private house in accordance with its parameters and tasks.

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Norms and requirements

When designing and installing street lighting in the yard, it is important to follow the basic standards, which in the future will ensure not only the convenience of using the adjacent area, but also human safety:

Purpose of lanterns

The location of lamps in the courtyard is determined by the need to illuminate a particular area: an entrance, a garden path, a flower bed or a pond. Depending on the tasks set, yard lighting devices can be divided into several categories.

Functional

The main task of functional lighting is to provide sufficient visibility in any area. Due to this type of lighting in the yard, you can ensure safe movement after dark.

Various types of lighting equipment can be installed for street lighting:

In addition to a powerful luminous flux, functional lighting should also provide a minimum power consumption, so LED lights should be used here. nine0003

Security

Designed solely to prevent unauthorized entry of outsiders into the yard or near it. It is used to illuminate any part of your house, space, area, etc. Constantly on light at the entrance gate, fence, or generally around the perimeter provides good visibility, but this is too costly. Therefore, it is desirable to automate security lighting from a motion sensor, so that lighting devices act as an alarm signaling the approach of a person. nine0003

Decorative

Used to decorate the territory of the yard, its individual sections, flowerbeds, vegetation, ponds, stairs. Street lighting helps to effectively highlight important elements in the garden, act as architectural lighting. For decorative lighting, spotlights, spotlights, and LED strips are equally used. An important criterion when choosing a particular equipment is its compliance with landscape design and the general style of buildings in symbiosis with which they will be used. nine0003

Festive

Festive courtyard lighting is designed to decorate the territory for a specific event - New Year, birthday, etc. Unlike the previous type, they are installed temporarily - in relation to some kind of holiday. Here you can also use architectural illumination, illumination of paths, decoration of arbors, terraces. Garlands, LED strips and themed lamps are used as yard lighting devices.

Choosing the right luminaires

It should be noted that the choice of lighting devices for suburban areas and private houses should be carried out according to three main criteria:

According to the type of light distribution, all outdoor lighting devices are divided into:

According to the method of location relative to the supporting and mounting structures, fastenings to the surface are divided: It is good to install on terraces, under a roof at the entrance, near the walls of buildings.

  • Floor lamps - Suitable for garden paths, playgrounds, driveways, etc.
  • Recessed - cover a huge segment of lighting devices that can be mounted in walls to illuminate the facade, ground, ceiling and other surfaces, depending on your needs. nine0006
  • On a short stem - used as a decorative lighting area, paths or perimeter.

Selecting the type of lighting control

Depending on the frequency of use, all outdoor lighting devices can be divided into devices with automatic and manual switching. The first method is relevant for those houses where the light in the courtyard should light up with the onset of darkness and go out with the first rays of dawn. If you want to control the lighting process yourself, it is better to install a manual or mechanical switch. nine0003

Mechanical

Key switches or contactors are installed to implement the mechanical lighting in the yard. The first option is used for low power loads, when one switch drives several LED lights with low power. The contactor is used to switch powerful lighting in the yard when you have several lighting groups installed that create a large load. At the same time, it is possible to divide all groups of courtyard lighting under several key switches or buttons if you start them with a remote control. nine0003

Automatic

Lighting automation makes it possible to eliminate the human factor from the control of the switching process as much as possible. This will allow you not to worry about the backlight during your absence or eliminate the need to constantly turn on and off the lighting fixtures in the yard.

To implement automatic backlighting, the following can be introduced into the power supply circuit of LED spotlights:

  • photorelay – turns on the lighting of the yard when it gets dark; nine0006
  • motion sensor - supplies power only when moving in a given area of ​​space;
  • time relay - allows you to set the program for turning on and off in a certain time interval (from a daily schedule to several minutes).

All of the above automations can be installed separately or together. For this, a serial connection scheme is used, as shown in the figure below:

Nuances of electrical work

When installing and connecting lighting devices in the yard, several important nuances should be taken into account: