Light it up

It’s all well and good having a beautifully landscaped garden that looks amazing during the day, but can you see it after the sun goes down?  We spoke to Electrician, Brent Turnbull from BT Electrical about garden lighting.

We believe garden lighting is very underrated and underused. Tell us, mate, what can garden lighting add to a yard? 

Garden lighting is a must these days, and is considered one of the most important elements of your garden. Lighting not only enhances the beauty, but transforms dark unused areas, to be a major feature and talking point of the house, inviting you out into the garden for entertaining or just for you to enjoy. It creates ambience, highlights and adds drama to landscaping or architectural features, provides safety and security for your home and Increases curb appeal which will benefit resale value.

What are the options of lighting, when it comes to a garden? 

There is a large range of lighting options available which can make your garden space come to life at night. Garden lighting provides both functional and aesthetic benefits. We work with all budgets, where they can be as simple as a few garden spike lights, or lighting which highlights the beauty of feature plants and architectural elements, we hide LED strips to highlight steps and bench seats, install in deck lighting for safety and ambience, spotlights for security and visibility, we use solar lighting, install pool lighting, or create a magical space with in tree lights.

We always consider the different types of lighting and location requirements being: ambient which Is general lighting, lighting for tasks like or preparing food and cooking the bbq, and accent lighting that will highlight ad Illuminate key features of your gardens

What are the best types of lights to use in a garden?  And what are the benefits of these?

Most lights on the market are now LED's, this makes the running cost very low. We like to run parts of the front and rear yard on timers. We can even set your lighting to be controlled from your smart phone or tablet, this lets you appreciate your garden without thinking about It! Solar lighting Is another popular and environmentally friendly option

The best lighting options to use In your garden are:

·      Security lighting to Illuminate large areas with motion sensors such as flood lights

·      Path lighting In low voltage or solar options designed to highlight and navigate pathways

·      Strip lighting for a warm Intimate ambience

·      Wall lights

·      Lanterns

·      Deck Lighting

·      Spot lighting - Up lighting to Illuminate a key feature

When in the process of designing a garden should people be thinking about lights?  Should they be when designing, or on completion?

Garden lights can be added at any time, but working In conjunction with your landscaper at the design stage Is definitely going to give the best effect and most economical for cost.

We love planning with the landscapers as they know the overall vision and they will guide us into which plants, rock walls pathways etc to highlight.

We love a plant here at The Sub Branch.  If you could put a spotlight on any plant in a garden, what sort of plant would it be?

This Is an easy one for me, The Sub branch and Urban Jungle have just supplied and installed a 3m Bismarck for my recent new rear garden. It looks amazing with a low-level feature garden and spike up lighting it which shows this plant In all of its glory after dusk!!