Garden Lighting

LED garden lights are a novel way to create some great effects in the garden. Their main advantage is that they produce a much focused beam that can be positioned exactly where you want it. The beam does not spread out as much as halogen bulbs and so for this reason they are commonly used for deck and patio lighting. Placing them around the edges of the decking allows the light to shine straight up, so it will not shine in anybody's eyes. The colours are also very vivid and intense compared to other bulbs, and various colours are available such as white, blue and red. You will see many variations on decking such as recessed LED lights, or lights built into the decking posts.

Another advantage of the LED lights are that they have an extremely long life and do not use much energy, so they are ideal for being left on for long periods of time. Most people have them on timers, so they will come on and go off at set periods for years to come. Unfortunately they only come in a couple of colours at present, and the most popular is plain white.

Linear lighting is used to outline a particular feature such as a fence or rockery, or even a tree. The light is built into a strip, and you will see these used at parties or at Christmas time to produce a decorative effect. Adding the strips around a tree helps to create the outline more clearly, and can really make them come to life. Placing them around the garden perimeter is a good way of showing your guests the full extent of your garden, and also helps people to see where they are going in the dark. Some of these lights can be hooked up to make them flash or twinkle in alternate patterns, which is great for parties.

The only drawback with linear lights is that the bulb life is very short, so they are not best used for long term use. They also use quite a lot of energy, so they can be expensive to run over time. The benefit is that they do look good when they are in full flow.