Who This Is For: Homeowners planning to light a garden, path or facade at night who want it to look composed rather than floodlit.
Key Takeaways
- Start With Three Layers
- Uplight One Tree Properly
- Wash a Wall, Then Light the Ground
- Light the Way In
- Finish the Boundary
- Power, Glare and Control
- Is It Right for Your Space?
Light the garden in three quiet layers: a tree, a wall and the ground you walk on. Keep every fixture warm, keep the beams short, and let the dark do the rest. A garden that glows in pools reads as deliberate. A garden under one bright floodlight reads as a car park.
We have lit enough terraces and drives to know where it goes wrong. Too many fixtures, too much glare and a colour that fights the stone. This guide shows how to avoid all three, with the Nora Furnish pieces we would choose for each job.
Start With Three Layers
Walk the garden at dusk and decide what deserves to be seen. Usually it is one specimen tree, one textured wall and the route from the street to the door. Everything else can stay in shadow.
Look from the places you actually sit. A lit tree seen from the kitchen window or the terrace table does more for the evening than one seen only from the lawn. Plan the view first and the fixtures second. Sketch the garden on paper, mark the three or four things worth lighting, and add up the fixtures before you buy any.
Choose a warm white of 2700K to 3000K throughout. Cool white turns foliage grey and makes stone look clinical. Warm light gives leaves depth and makes limestone, brick and timber look expensive. For more ideas on the full range, browse our landscape lighting collection.
Uplight One Tree Properly
Place the light at the base of the trunk, about 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 cm) out, and tilt it up into the branches. Look at the tree from the house window while a helper moves the fixture. You are looking for bark and branch structure, not a bright spot.
On a broad tree, use two lights from opposite sides so no branch is left flat. The Mulberry low voltage tree uplight is built from aluminum with a tempered glass lens. It comes in 6W, 12W, 18W and 24W outputs, so a young shrub and a mature oak can each get the right amount of light. Low voltage cable is also safer to bury, which matters when the bed is dug every spring.
Match the output to the tree
- Small trees and shrubs: the 6W or 12W output.
- Medium trees: 12W or 18W, aimed up the trunk and into the lower canopy.
- Large specimens: 18W or 24W, in pairs, aimed from opposite sides.
Wash a Wall, Then Light the Ground
Graze for texture, wash for calm
Set a linear light close to the wall, 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) out, and it grazes the surface. Every ridge in the stone throws a shadow. Move it further out and the light spreads into an even sheet.
The Skyline linear wall washer is 39.2 inches (99.6 cm) long, in gray aluminum with a diffuser. It is offered in 18W, 24W and 36W, in warm white or white. An optional baffle hides the diodes and cuts glare, which adds a little to its height: 1.7 inches without it, 2.7 inches with it.
For the ground itself, the best fixture is the one you never see. An in-ground well light sits flush with the paving and leaves nothing to mow around or trip over.
The Rimrock recessed well light is rated IP67, so it copes with a lawn that puddles after rain. It is die cast aluminum in black, with a transparent glass top you can walk over. Each light is 8.27 inches (21 cm) wide and deep, and 4.92 inches (12.5 cm) high, with a 15W output that is strong enough to uplight a tree.
You can order one, or sets of up to 10. Browse the well lights collection for the full range.
Light the Way In
A path needs just enough light to show the edge and the step. Aim for small pools of light, spaced evenly, with dark between them. When every pool overlaps, the walk looks like a runway.
The Stonehaven bollard is die cast aluminum with an acrylic diffuser and a powder coated finish. It is rated IP65 and comes in five heights, from 11.8 inches (30 cm) to 39.4 inches (100 cm). Choose warm 3000K for a garden and keep the taller heights for drives and open lawn. Light colour is fixed when you order, and an electrician connects the mains supply.
Make the entry a moment
At the front door, trade the bollard for something more sculptural. The Castagna lattice lantern stands 28.4 inches (72 cm) tall and 9.1 inches (23 cm) wide. It is stainless steel in a chestnut finish with a white acrylic shade, and a warm glow comes through the lattice panel.
It is hardwired and sealed against heavy rain and sand. It sits well beside wood, stone and gravel. Use a pair at the door and nothing else on that wall.
For the full line of fixtures, see the bollard lights and path lights collections.
Finish the Boundary
A glowing gate post tells a visitor they are in the right place before they reach the door. It also marks the edge of the property in a way a floodlight never could. One light per pier is plenty.
The Pedestal is a square lantern in acrylic and aluminum, made to sit on piers, gate posts or fence caps. Choose solar at 5.91 inches (15 cm) square and 7.28 inches (18.5 cm) tall, or hardwired at 8.86 inches (22.5 cm) square and 10.04 inches (25.5 cm) tall. It takes an E27 bulb in warm 2700K to 3999K.
Power, Glare and Control
Decide on power before you buy fixtures. Low voltage runs on a transformer and is safer to lay along beds, which is why the Mulberry and Skyline are specified that way. Mains fixtures such as the Stonehaven need an electrician, and the work is best done before turf or paving goes in.
Divide the garden into zones and put each on its own switch or timer. Trees on one, the wall and path on another, the gate on a third. On a quiet night you may want only the trees.
Be a good neighbour
- Aim every beam at the thing you are lighting, never across the boundary.
- Use a baffle or a deeper hood wherever the diodes are visible from a window.
- Keep the total light level low. The eye adjusts, and soft light looks brighter than it is.
Finally, test before you commit. Set every fixture in position, even if only temporarily, wait until the sky is properly dark and walk the garden from the house, the gate and the street. Move anything that glares or leaves a harsh patch. An hour of adjustment at dusk is worth more than any specification.
A Zone by Zone Checklist
- Tree: two uplights, 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 cm) from the trunk, aimed into the canopy.
- Wall: one linear washer, set close for texture or further out for an even sheet.
- Path: bollards or well lights in small pools, evenly spaced.
- Entry: a pair of lanterns and nothing more on that wall.
- Boundary: one light on each gate pier.
Is It Right for Your Space?
If your garden has a strong tree, a textured wall or a long approach, layered landscape lighting will transform it after dark. If it is a small courtyard, start with the wall and one pair of lanterns and stop there.
Our team will help you choose outputs, heights and power for your plan. Write to us at info@norafurnish.com.
