My last blog post was all about the most coveted item in the garden at the moment (apart from DIY pallet sofas with a scantily dressed Tom Hardy draped over it), festoon lights. I had such fun pulling it together and so many messages about it, I thought I’d write a blog post on the best lighting for your garden this summer.

Before we put lighting in our garden, I would rarely sit out there once the sun started setting. There’s no fun trying to talk to someone only to realise that they actually went indoors half hour ago and you’ve been sat talking to the stand-alone olive tree opposite you with a gin in your hand. So here are some of the best ways you can create a fabulous ambient space when it gets dark.

Festoon Lights

I’ve already covered festoon lights in my last blog so won’t go into too much detail, but they really have seen a surge in popularity for garden lighting in recent years. They light up your garden wonderfully and I think they look just as good during the day as they do at night.

Fairy Lights

Now an integral part of an interior instagrammers home (and yes, I have been guilty of putting them in my bathroom), fairy lights are slowly making their way out into the garden. There is a fabulous range of outdoor fairy lights on the high street including Tesco and lights4fun. You can wrap them pretty much around anything including your trees, pergolas or parasols and they are readily available in battery power or solar.

Starburst Lights

Create a fabulous burst of lights along your pathway or around your garden perimeter or fence with starburst lights. Again, you can get these either battery powered or solar and they often come on stakes which you can put straight into the ground. They can blend quite easily between your plants during the day which will stop your garden looking like the lead up to Santa’s grotto, but provide a subtle sparkling affect at night.

Candles

Probably one of the most obvious choices when it comes to lighting up your garden at night, candles give off a soft romantic glow. There are so many to choose from now that have wonderful aromas like freshly picked dandelion leaf and turmeric (I’m sure it’s out there somewhere), we’ve probably already got several hundred lurking in the house.

There are also plenty of LED candles to choose from as well which will, for obvious reasons, not give off a scent. But they will keep glowing even when that gust of wind decides to invade your garden space (although depending on what type of wind, will not mask the smell!)

Lanterns

If you still want to use traditional candles in your garden but find that they are continuously blowing out, why not invest in some lanterns? They’re fabulous at protecting your delicate little candle but again, make a wonderful feature in your garden.

Solar Lanterns

Another one of my favourite garden lighting items has to be solar lanterns. Like festoons, they look just as good in the day as they do when they’re all lit up and showy offy at night! Just hang them up and they will turn themselves on for around 6 hours once it gets dark.

This has to be one of my favourite gardens on Instagram. Image credit: marzena.marideko

Fire pit

A fire pit obviously serves a double purpose of romantically lighting up your patio whilst warming you up at the same time whilst you toast your marshmallows. Or toes. Just don’t do what we did and put the fire pit directly on top of your decking for one of your friends to shout half hour later that there appears to be a red glow coming from the decking. Also, do not light your fire pit when you have consumed quite a bit of gin!

Rope Lights

I think one of the first garden images I pinned on Pinterest included rope lights. I love how you can pretty much bend them around anything in the garden and because they’re quite subtle, they provide a magical glow. I particularly like the idea of winding them around flower borders or pathways.

Stake Lights

My mum was probably the first person who really got me into gardening. Every time she came to visit, she would pop to the nearest garden centre and buy some plants which I would inevitably kill, but I always remember her garden being immaculate and she’s had stake lights for as long as I can remember.

They’re another fantastic way to light up your garden in the evening and at night and if you place them strategically, you can really make the plants and colours of the flowers glow.

Neon Lights

And finally, if you really want to add a funky addition to your garden (sorry, did I just say funky? I’m 40 for goodness sake haha), and want to go all Love Island in your garden, get yourself a neon sign. Light up a corner of your patio, hang it on your garden shed or if you’ve gone all out in your garden and added a bar, get that cocktail sign up! www.neonbeach.com have a fantastic range of products and can waterproof your sign to use outdoors.

So there you have it, no reason not to light up your garden and all your hard gardening work at night now! I’m off to enjoy a G&T in mine before the rain comes in tonight. Next blog post, how to keep dry in the garden! 🙂

Mel x