Garden Lights Design Guide

Gardens look fantastic during the daylight hours with brightly colored flowers, greenery in every shade, differing heights of shrubs and trees, and decorative accents. Your garden can look just as beautiful in the evening hours when decorated with lights. Everyone who sees it will be drawn in, feel welcome, and want to stay awhile.

Summer colors could match or coordinate with the colors of your flowers. In the fall, use harvest colors to go along with robust mums and other fall garden containers. Even in the winter, your garden can be beautiful! Line your pathway with green and red rope lights and you'll be amazed at the difference it makes during a season that sometimes seems a bit dreary. If you would like your lights to "move", consider the ½-inch, 3-wire Rope Lights, which come in several colors and, combined with one of the heavy-duty controllers, will animate your lights for a fun and whimsical effect.

Lighted Pathway

Begin by lining the pathway to your garden with rope lights. These are accent lights contained in long tubes with the lights spaced out evenly inside the tube. These lights are perfect for outdoor use since they will not burn or scorch. The 3/8-inch Rope Lights are ideal for lining your pathway and come in several colors – blue, green, pink, milky white, orange, yellow, red, purple and multi. With the changing of the seasons or holidays, it would be easy to change the color of your rope lights to match.

Glass bricks are another great way to line a path. Simply place a set of the Battery Operated Christmas Mini Lights with their individual power pack inside the glass brick and turn on. If you have power handy, one of our standard mini light sets with 50 bulbs make a great accent for the larger bricks and you can tailor the color of the bulbs to a specific theme.

For a special occasion, wrap the glass bricks in cellophane or tulle for a more than casual look. Otherwise, they look great all year long by themselves. Glass bricks, found at your local craft store, come in different colors too, so they can be coordinated with your mini lights. The LED Mini Lights are also ideal for this application.

Light the Greenery

Trees are the perfect background for lights. If you have more mature trees in your garden, consider using either groups of mini lights or long cords of C7 Christmas Cord Lights. The C7 cord lights are perfect for creating an umbrella-like look when they are positioned from the top of the tree and then flow down on several sides of the tree, spaced somewhat evenly.

For a more subtle effect on your garden tree, use groups of the Christmas Mini Lights. Position the lights to appear as though cascading down from the top and middle of the tree. Consider using the Tree Trunk Wrap Mini Lights, one of our most popular items, to light up the trunks of your larger trees as well to complete the effect. These do go fast, so please, check back often for a new shipment and then buy as many as you need! Twinkle lights are beautiful on trees, so consider the Chasing Christmas Tree Lights too!

Flowerbeds are stunning when outlined with C7 Cord Lights. They look great all year round. Change out the bulbs for each season and you'll have a garden that your friends and neighbors will envy.

Accent Lights

Do you have sculptures, (angels, cherubs, boys fishing at the pond, etc.), or birdbaths in your garden? Outline them with rope lights for a unique effect, especially at night. Bushes and shrubbery are beautifully simply outlined with rope lights, decorated with strung C7 lights, or with groups of mini lights.

For those who want a whimsical look, use the rope lights to create shapes against the backdrop of your bushes. Animals are great for every day, whereas you could do red hearts for Valentine's Day, pumpkins for Fall, a cross or rabbit for Easter, a sleigh for Christmas, and so on. The ideas are only limited by your imagination!

Outline outbuildings, such as garden sheds, with rope lights or mini lights for a completely different look. Icicle Lights look fantastic on shed or small buildings as well. If you want to get really creative, consider using our Curtain Mini Lights on the roof of your tool/garden shed for added light.

Arbors and trellises look elegant and special when decorated with intertwined mini lights or C7 Christmas Light Bulbs in either opaque or transparent colors.

Wrought iron accents just beg to be lit up with mini light sets. Use them on fences, benches, or any other wrought iron accessory contained in your garden.

Larger containers of flowers or tall grasses are easily decorated by pooling sets of Christmas Mini Lights or Itsy Bitsy Mini Lights at the base of the plant. They'll be ready for the party or look great for every day. Both types of light sets are also ideal for lighting up topiaries, smaller trees, and other decorative garden accents.

Start with a Stroll

Before beginning to decorate your garden with lights, consider taking a walk around your garden during the day and then again at dusk. Think about what you would enjoy if you were seated in the garden during the evening hours or just seeing it from your home. Ask a friend to come along and lend their opinion too. Two sets of eyes can be helpful!

Then, allow your creativity to come to life as you adorn your garden with mini lights, rope lights, and C7 bulb lights. You'll love the effect when it is finished! Don't forget to invite that friend over when it's completed so you can enjoy your garden together. Maybe she will do her garden next!