Outdoor Lantern Lights for Dramatic Garden Lighting Effects

You can use an outdoor lantern light or other types of outdoor lighting to give a range of special lighting effects in your garden or on your patio or deck. Dramatically light up a lovely statue or outline your path with softly glowing solar lights. Create a lovely ambience in your garden, provide highlights that show off your best plants, light up an arbor or make a magical effect by using colored lights to illuminate a garden waterfall.

Adding lighting to your garden, deck, porch or patio will not only enhance security but will extend the time you can enjoy your outdoor areas. Make the exterior of your home unique and and more dramatic and exiting than your neighbors by using some of the techniques we detail here.

1. Spotlighting uses a narrow beam of light to illuminate an object from a distance. Two spotlights can be used for a more dramatic cross lighting effect. Spotlighting can also be used where there is nowhere close to the object to mount a light.

2. Downlighting is used by placing a light above an object so that it shines down and projects a pool of light onto the surface of the object or feature. Lights can be mounted on trees, posts, wall etc and can be used for both dramatic illumination effects and for enhanced security.

3. Uplighting is the opposite of downlighting and uses a light placed below an object or feature. It creates a dramatic effect and is in contrast to the normal lighting from the sun during the day.

4. Accent lighting is used to highlight individual objects or features by using directional lights. Use it to show off a particularly lovely flowering bush or a water fountain or other favorite feature in your garden.

5. Path lighting can be used as a safety feature to light up the edges of paths with a soft glow. Other ways to light up paths include using step lights mounted on walls close to paths or spotlights can also be mounted close by and directed at the path.

6. Floodlighting is used for security and safety by lighting up large areas with high powered lights usually mounted high on a wall or post. This is really a functional rather than a decorative effect.

7. Moonlight simulation can be achieved by placing soft lights to shine down from a tree so that the light shines through the branches and leaves to create a dappled effect on the area below.

8. Shadowing and silhouetting are similar effects achieved by placing a light behind or in front of a feature. Silhouetting lights up a wall or other feature behind an object, shadowing uses an light placed in front of an object to project a shadow of the object onto a wall. It is particularly effective with large plants where the leaves and stems are shadowed onto the wall.

9. Water effects can be achieved by lighting up an area of still water, in a swimming pool for instance, and creating a mirrorlike effect by shining a light onto a close object which is then mirrored in the water. Colored lights can be used to great effect. Other water effects include floating softly glowing solar lights on pools and lighting up waterfalls from behind with softly glowing colored lights.

10. Spreadlights use post mounted low level lights to give circular pools of light on paths, steps or ground cover plants. The lights should have top covers to ensure that they are glare free from above and only project the light on to the ground.

With some imagination and careful planning you can use an outdoor lantern light, solar light or spotlight to create a unique and dramatic effect in your garden, pool or patio.

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