Uplighting your garden with floodlights


When I first started my garden, over twenty years ago, I made a visit to the fanciest resort in town, just to see how they did their lighting in the garden. And that's when I discovered the beauty of uplighting. And it really is an art form. Done correctly, it's wonderful, done wrong it's awful.

The lights I have are LED floodlights, 20 watt equivalent (205 lumens). They're on a low-voltage line that runs all of the way around the garden. They're pointed at the plants, and a fair amount of light "bounces back" which helps to give a gentle illumination to the yard. There's no need for direct lighting. In the photo at the top of this post, it looks as if you couldn't see your feet, but in reality, you can easily. I guess the photo just added a lot of contrast!

Twenty watts (205 lumens) is very bright, so you want to be careful where you aim these lights. I have a nice six-foot high block wall around my garden, so the light stops there, and bounces back. If I had a fence with holes in it, I wouldn't do this, as the light would be blasting into my neighbor's yard. These tiny lights are about as bright as the high beams of cars, so it's wise to watch where you're pointing them.

I installed these last spring and haven't seen much of them, as it's been summer and I usually go to bed fairly early. But now that the days are getting shorter, I'll be using them more. The evenings here in Arizona and wonderful all winter, and my garden will look like a luxury resort. Now all I need is to be sipping a gin-and-tonic!

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