Lighting Alternatives

[Irishchappie]

The garden at the back of my house isnt that big but its fairly dark and I'm looking to put some lighting in it, nothing too bright, just enough to give the garden a bit of a look and be able to see it when you look out the back window at night.

At the moment its just a wooden fence slotted in between concrete garden posts. Im planning to put a light on every second concrete post about 4ft off the ground all the way around. So thats about a dozen lights in total.

I'm looking for some suggestions for an alternative to the usual bulkhead lights, but not spending a small fortune on it either and a style that will last too, rather than something ultra modern that will look out of date in 3-5 years.

There isnt a lot out there and I've checked the usual spots, B&Q, Altantic Homecare and various other DIY stores.

Anyone any recommendations?

I.C

 

[DublinBoy834]

A friend of mine bought a few short strips of rope light and uses this in his garden. They give of a nice soft light and look cool at night.

 

[secman]

we used Par 38's, essentially they are plastic spikes with lamps on them. They are for outdoor use , the lamps come in various colours, we used greens , blue, red and plain , very effective in the garden. We used SWA ( steel wire armour) cabling for safety reasons, as it is buried undergoround. The spikes can be place amongt shrubs etc. or behind say like us a Tree Fern. Looka a treat at night, like an extension to the dining room.

The lamps can swivel up or down, and usually are "flood" type rather than a "beam" type.

Downside is that its an electricians job rather than a DIY , from a safety point of view, on account it being subject to weather /rain etc.

 

[Irishchappie]

I'm ideally looking for something that can be mounted on the concrete posts and up out of the way rather than free standing in the ground.

Wont have a lot of shrubbery in the garden and I'm trying to setup the garden to be as low maintenance as possible with a bit of greenery without slabbing the whole thing..

Still deciding what I'm gonna run the wiring through but whatever I use, its gonna be a good 12 inches under ground so no fear or a stray pitch fork going through it.

I.C