Illumination of trees in the garden. Garden lighting as an element of night landscape decor

With the onset of the warm season, many people prefer to spend free time in the countryside surrounded by nature and clean air. In addition to dacha activities during daylight hours, illumination of a suburban area becomes important after dark. Some people think that we can limit ourselves to ordinary incandescent light bulbs and primitive lamps installed only in the most necessary places. But if you want to create beautiful, decent, and even better quality lighting, you will have to spend money. There are many options for how to illuminate the area in the country.

Requirements

DIY country lighting must be as functional as possible, save energy and meet all safety requirements. It is important to connect it to autonomous sources of electricity. This is due to the fact that dachas are characterized by frequent power outages and therefore alternative sources are needed.

Exist certain requirements, according to which it is necessary to organize lighting in a summer cottage. These include the following:

The electrical wiring used for lighting must be installed taking into account the installation rules and not pose a danger to others. Automatic switches and RCDs must be installed, with the help of which you can protect the line from the occurrence and consequences short circuit, and also de-energize the network when overloads occur in automatic mode. It will be important to ground the country house.
The power cable must be laid in metal or plastic pipes, and also in corrugation. This is necessary to avoid mechanical damage wiring. Switching devices are used in the form of sockets and switches of a waterproof type.

Lighting summer cottage, made with your own hands, must be arranged in such a way that there is free access to the inspection of all its elements. The lamps used must be connected in such a way that it is possible to switch them off locally, as well as in an emergency.
If lighting of the area will be carried out around the entire perimeter and in areas of the future lawn, it will need to be designed and installed before landscaping work begins. This is due to the fact that the cable is laid in pipes and underground, and this leads to disruption of garden decor.
To illuminate the area on the site, it is better to use lamps that save energy. The best option LED lighting or light sources powered by solar powered. This solution allows you to save about 70% of electrical energy.

Organizing a street lighting plan

Just choose lighting to illuminate the area dark time a day is not enough. Before the beginning installation work You will need to draw up a plan for the placement of lamp posts and poles along the entire perimeter of the site, as well as lay out routes for laying cables in the ground.

First of all, you will need to decide on the areas of required lighting, connection points and connections electrical lines each lighting fixture. This can be done using waterproof sockets, hidden from direct exposure to moisture, or switching boxes buried in the ground or located on lamp posts. Marking the location of switches is organized at the discretion of the owner of the site, based on the ease of their use.

To conveniently draw a diagram with the help of which the lighting of the territory will be arranged, you can use a photocopy of the plan of your site. If this is not available, you will need to draw a plan on a scale of 1:100, which will indicate all existing buildings. Lighting design is created with the future in mind landscape design. It is necessary to take into account the places where recreation areas will be located, such as gazebos, terraces, ponds, and also take into account the presence of country paths.

The diagram indicates the location of future lamps. Typically, each point on the map is designated by the letter L. In addition to the light sources, the location of the switches is indicated - B; sockets – P; if necessary, you can indicate motion sensors, bells, surveillance cameras, etc. on the map.

When designing Special attention should be given to lighting the entrance to the house, the most dangerous places on the site, gate. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the installation height of the lamps, since winter time they may be covered with snow. Illumination on fences is not recommended. This is due to the glare effect of the lamps.

In any case, the decision on how to make lighting for a dacha depends on the personal preferences of the owner of the site, his imagination and Money, which he is ready to invest in it. If you are unable to properly organize the lighting of the area, it is better to contact specialists who will do it quickly and efficiently.

Basic lighting options for a dacha

It is worth considering that the lighting of a summer cottage can have different functions, and therefore, depending on one or another option, it is necessary to select all lamps according to the type of their purpose. There are several types of lighting in a suburban area:

General. The main function of this lighting is to organize visible zones on the site for safe movement in the dark, as well as various works and spending free time. Lamps intended for these purposes should be installed near the entrance to the house, along garden paths and near the entrance to the territory.
Marking. This type of lighting is usually used to emphasize some decorative elements and landscape of a summer cottage. These can be steps, benches, boundaries of a parking space for a car, etc. Most often, lanterns on small legs, “glowing stones,” and pendant lamps are used for such lighting. It is better to use lamps that have LEDs. This will allow you to save on electricity and choose the necessary colors for the lighting.

Security. The main task of such lighting country house and the surrounding area is to protect the site from intruders. Such lamps are installed so that all main areas are illuminated: the threshold of the house, garage and entrance gate, parking space. Flashlights can be used general purpose, but for the effect of surprise they use motion sensors, which create the impression of a person’s presence in the house. It is possible to configure the operation of the lighting system or its individual elements in automatic mode. This is possible thanks to the installation of a time relay, which will turn on specific lighting groups at a given time.
Decorative. This type of lighting includes lamps, lamps and lanterns, which are installed mainly in places where it is necessary to emphasize landscape design, near bodies of water, in areas where people spend their leisure time. Such lighting devices are not aimed at illuminating the area, but only serve as lighting and decoration. Currently, there are many lamps of this type, for every taste and color.

Types of lamps

Backlight dacha area should carry not only the functions of decoration and security, but also have economic efficiency. Many have already begun to abandon incandescent lamps, as they consume a large number of electricity and often burn out. Today there are many options for replacing them. These include the following types lamps:

halogen and fluorescent - have long term services and consume less electricity compared to incandescent lamps;
lamps with LEDs and LED strips– their main advantage is a bright glow and low electricity consumption, and their service life is the longest among competitors. Some types of lamps have the ability to adjust their brightness;
fiber optic systems have recently appeared on the market and are already in great demand. They can be used in almost every lighting situation.

All lamps can be classified according to certain criteria, for example, by the place of their installation and power supply.

Installation is divided into the following categories:

Wall lights;
floor light sources;
hanging lanterns;
spotlights that shine with a scattering beam;
fiber optic systems.

Based on the power source, luminaires can be divided into the following types:

electric – the main type of street lighting in a summer cottage;
lamps powered by solar panels - easy to install, portable, do not consume electrical energy, but are quite expensive;
candles in decorative jars are part of a romantic design and require constant attention.

Due to the constant impact of weather events on street lighting, it is necessary to choose lamps that are designed for external use and have a sealed casing that prevents moisture from getting inside.

Solar powered lamp

How to make original lighting with your own hands?

Most cost garden lamps becomes an obstacle for many in arranging their dacha with decorative lighting. Don’t be upset, because you can put in a little effort, use your imagination and use the tools at hand to accomplish interesting things. design solutions street lamps. Let's look at the main ways to create decorative lighting with your own hands.

A fairly common option is a lamp made from a bottle with interesting shape, and a garland inserted into it. The void in the bottle is filled with exotic material; you can use beads or some beautiful balls. If there is no garland, use a small flashlight that can be inserted into the neck.

A very simple and beautiful version of the lamp from the original glass jar. Any interesting material will be suitable to fill its contents, be it sand, stones different color or even pebbles. A candle is placed inside the jar, and for greater decoration it can be tied around the outside with rope or lace material.

There is another option for using cans. To obtain a beautiful effect, it is necessary to paint it from the inside with luminescent paints. You can make a variety of patterns. In the dark, you get an original glow.

Lanterns made from tin cans. To create them you will need the jars themselves, garlands or candles. For creating original lighting You will need to make holes or patterns on such a lamp using a nail so that light can leak through them.

There are quite a few lighting options and each gives its own effect. The most common are lighting of building facades, illumination of paths and the entrance to the garage and house, children's and playgrounds, alpine coaster and ponds, fountains and sculptures, various decorative elements of the garden.

Illumination of buildings can be carried out with various lamps. For facade lighting, you can use spotlights with different angles the outgoing beam - from a narrow several degrees to a wide one. A narrow beam is beneficial for highlighting architectural details on facades, niches, columns. A wide beam will help to evaluate the entire complex as a whole and will emphasize the texture of the building.

This lighting did not bring out the beauty of the house's log structure. When designing new lighting, it was proposed to emphasize the unusualness of the facade made of rounded tinted logs with a diameter of about 40 cm. Spotlights with halogen lamps were installed in the lower zone of the base, and their light is directed upward. As a result, all the beauty of the building was revealed.

Lighting garden paths is considered difficult - it requires a special approach. First of all, garden lamps must fit into the surrounding landscape, both in size and design. Illumination of the paths should help in the dark not to get lost on the site and not to go in the wrong direction. Roadbed it is necessary to light it in such a way as not to blind your eyes and to evenly illuminate the entire path of movement, without sharp changes from light to dark, as sometimes happens in the city - it is light under the lantern, but impenetrable darkness under the treetops, although the lantern is standing a few meters away from you.

In the example of the same project, the path surface was illuminated by halogen lamps built into the surface, and when walking along the path it was practically invisible - the light from the lanterns hit directly into the eyes. When looking to the side nothing was visible. When redesigning the system, it was proposed to use classic scheme- low columns with matte shades at a level of 80 cm from the ground.

Low power energy saving lamps were used. As you can see in the photo, the path surface is evenly illuminated and moving along it is a pleasure. By the way, lamps built into the track fabric may be present, but it is better to choose them with frosted glass and low power lamps, perfect option- LED marker lamps with a power of 1W. Such flashlights show the size of the path and indicate the direction of movement. It is better to install such lamps in lateral surface curbstone or retaining wall.

With this arrangement of lamps, the canvas is illuminated by side light, and the eyes are not blinded by the directional radiation. Nowadays you can find products from lighting companies in the form of transparent stones or paving slabs, which have LED matrices inside with different shades of light. They are used to insert into the general road surface as marker lamps. During the day, they are practically impossible to distinguish from other stones, and in the dark they illuminate the path with soft light.

The next type of lighting is illumination of vegetation - trees, bushes, alpine slides, etc. This type of lighting can advantageously emphasize the beauty of plantings in the evening, since during the day you see the familiar landscape natural light. In the evening and at night everything changes. Highlighting ornamental plants, you create unusual living sculptures from familiar objects on your site. For festive occasions, there are options for color illumination - for example, green, emphasizing the color of foliage or pine needles.

A neutral white color can highlight the interesting texture of shrubs and other plants.

The next point of our trip is children's playgrounds and playgrounds. This place requires a special approach. In the evening, after a hot day in summer or early evening in winter, you want to be outside and fool around with the children. In mediocre lighting this will hardly be possible. In our project, evening lighting before the rework was limited to several LED battery-powered flashlights, which provided virtually no good light, after the renovation, the playground was fully illuminated and the safety of children playing was fully ensured.

As for the illumination of water devices, you can use many options for equipment - both surface and underwater. IN modern design LED lights and floodlights are best. Most of the range is available in multi-color versions, i.e. with RGB matrices. They are controlled using controllers with remote controls remote control for ease of inclusion and programming. By highlighting moving water, you can get an innumerable number of shades and lighting options. The glare from the water creates completely unique patterns on the surface of the water and on the surrounding landscape, on the walls of buildings and on trees. Using control controllers LED matrix creates a moving picture of color that flows from one shade to another without a sharp change, smoothly.

Using several such controllers and matrices, you can create a unique color palette, especially if you program the inclusion of matrices with a time shift. Additionally, you can use devices that create artificial fog. They also have LED backlighting with a changing pattern, which further creates variety in the play of light. On a quiet summer evening, with the devices turned on, both a fairy tale and a horror film with moving and illuminated fog can come to life.

The most simple option Pond illumination is a set of several sealed flashlights connected in a garland (LED or low-power halogen bulbs) and a step-down transformer with a light sensor. The sensor allows you to start the backlight independently, without user intervention, at dusk. The flashlights come with color filters, which you can use to select the desired color of the light, or the flashlights can be single-colored. In any case, the effect of such lighting leaves a lot of positive emotions. Evening, water, glare and mysterious light...

As for purchasing all these devices, large supermarkets and garden centers, where you can find almost the entire arsenal of lighting equipment and control machines. All you have to do is decide for yourself what you want to get as a result and plunge into the world of fantasy.

Garden lighting or personal plot – important element not only beauty, but also safety. To be convinced of this, just one walk around the backyard or garden with a hand-held flashlight is enough. A well-thought-out and competent lighting system makes it easy to navigate the garden plot in the dark and move around it with ease. high level security. With the help of decorative lighting of flower beds, garden paths, steps and trees, you can create an individual atmosphere in your garden plot and extend the time of communication with nature.

There are two types of street lighting:

utilitarian (functional);
decorative

Let's look at specific examples landscape design projects in which garden lighting is used, how you can not only protect yourself, your household and guests of a country or urban private household, but also give your garden plot an atmosphere of celebration, mystery or romanticism.

This is, first of all, safe movement around the site and near it in the dark. If we consider the illumination of a personal plot or backyard from the point of view of comfortable safety, the illumination of the porch of the house, the entrance to the garage or the parking area and garden paths can be considered a sufficient level.

If we talk about the simplest and least expensive way to illuminate an area that is adjacent to a household, then it is enough to evenly place the lamps along the garden paths. Such lighting can become the basis for garden lighting; for small areas this may be enough.

When designing functional lighting, it is important to remember several key aspects:

lighting equipment must be durable, all-season, simple and convenient in terms of operation and maintenance;
It is necessary to maintain harmony between the level of lighting of paths and other landscape objects. A person walking along a path will experience discomfort if it is flooded with too much light. It is better to direct the maximum level of brightness to illuminate accent elements - gazebos, patios, trees or shrubs;
it is important that the facade of the building remains the most illuminated place on the site; it is psychologically easier for residents of the house and their guests to move from a darker place to an area with bright lighting;
Another factor of psychological comfort is the fact that even in the darkest time of day the boundaries of the yard or area are visible.

To organize functional lighting, both conventional incandescent lamps and energy-saving, fluorescent lamps with various ways fastenings The most commonly used are conventional floor lamps. These are lighting fixtures that are mounted vertically and equipped with diffusers made of frosted glass, which significantly improve the quality of light of the lamps installed in them. High-tech style floor lamps are becoming increasingly popular, but there are also design projects with retro-style equipment.

– the organic shape of a sphere made of carbonate or polycarbonate, equipped with low-power lamps, can not only create dim lighting, but also decorate the landscape design of any area.

Solar-powered lighting fixtures– they are charged during the day (for this they are equipped with special batteries) in order to provide dim lighting of significant areas of the backyard or garden at night. Similar devices mobile and do not require connection to the power grid, they can be removed for the winter or moved during the warm season to different parts of the garden to highlight certain objects, constantly changing appearance and the atmosphere of your site at dusk. Because solar-powered devices are equipped with sensors and LEDs that turn on automatically, such lighting can last all night.

In order not to make a mistake when choosing lamps for your garden plot, you can use one simple rule - if the landscape design of the garden is quite diverse, it will be dominated by various flower beds, patio with garden furniture, alpine slides and many others decorative elements, then it is better to opt for lamps of laconic forms or use hidden lighting (we will talk about it in more detail later). And in the case of a simple and laconic landscape design that strives for minimalism, you can use retro lamps, fancy shapes, and different shades of lighting.

IN Lately built-in lighting systems are used quite widely not only indoors, but also in garden plots. You can integrate lamps into the bases of steps, alpine slides, fountains, borders and other landscape elements.

What is important to know when purchasing outdoor lighting fixtures:

Be sure to ask the store for a safety certificate for the device;
make sure that the certificate contains information about the degree of protection of the purchased product;
inquire about the warranty period for the external lighting element;
Pay special attention to the material from which the device is made. The body of the lamp will be actively exposed to sunlight, moisture and other weather conditions. Check whether the inside of the lamp mount is painted; if it rusts, the lamp will have to be thrown away. Lamps made from of stainless steel(painted), cast iron and aluminum alloys.

Decorative lighting

With the onset of darkness, any, even the most beautiful and sophisticated garden plot, loses its individuality. Flower beds and flower beds, garden sculptures, ponds and fountains become indistinguishable in the twilight. Competently organized lighting a backyard or garden can transform the exquisite beauty of nature and create a unique night image of the area, which will be completely different from the appearance of the yard during daylight hours. It’s up to you to decide what type of garden plot is right for you – mysterious or romantic, filled with drama or festive fun.

Interesting decorative effect can be created by highlighting plants (trees and shrubs). To do this, mini-spotlights are installed on the ground (in small depressions).

Lighting without the use of lamps

An increasing number of landscape design projects are seeking to use LED lighting, which allows you to create a kind of hidden lighting, without the use of lamps, spotlights and lamps. In this case, any type of support is used to support LED low-voltage lamps - a stone, a branch or the structure of buildings and structures. LEDs are hidden in the crowns of trees and shrubs, placed in flower beds, creating a lot of options for transforming the garden at night.

We highlight reservoirs

The spectacle of thoughtfully illuminated water is mesmerizing. Multi-colored lighting can transform your pond, and monochromatic lighting will add significance and nobility. Illumination of swimming pools, small ponds, fountains and others artificial reservoirs can radically change the appearance of your garden plot.

Several designer ways to decorate your garden

There are many ways to add individuality to the landscape design of your site. Why not make it yourself original lamps or purchase lighting fixtures unusual design? Experiment, don’t limit your imagination, but don’t forget about safety and functionality.

A little important information O decorative lighting garden:

With the help of lighting, you can zone a spacious garden plot, and create a visual extension boundaries - warm light brings the object of illumination closer to us, while cold light, on the contrary, visually moves it away;
For recreational areas (open terraces, patios, platforms and gazebos), soft diffused light in warm colors is more suitable. Dim lighting can create a cozy atmosphere that will be conducive to communication and a pleasant time with family or friends;
if lamps are used in the garden various colors, then it is desirable. So that they complement each other. Usually using 2-3 colors is enough. Very bright White color is capable of “depriving life” of your area, be careful when using it. Red and brown colors should also be used carefully and in doses;
You can create festive lighting in the garden using garlands and LED strips placed on trees, in a gazebo or along the perimeter of the patio.

And finally

It is necessary to create a project for lighting a personal plot at the start of the stage of creating a landscape concept. Lighting is planned in parallel with the projects of gazebos, terraces, rock gardens, garden paths, indoor and outdoor areas, patios and other recreation areas. If you do not include a lighting system in your initial yard landscaping plan, you may incur costs later. additional expenses and spend more time and effort organizing it. You will need to install electrical equipment, which may involve some landscaping remodeling.

2016-06-24 16:18:20 Garden lighting as an element of landscape design

If you choose the right lighting for your garden plot, then this will help you not only navigate well in the dark while walking through the gardens, but also enjoy all their beauty and decoration.

But questions immediately arise: How to think about installing additional light so as to leave the garden romantic and mysterious? What can be used for this?

What kind of lighting is needed? What are the lighting options? How can you use lighting to hide problem areas and highlight the brightest ones? This will be discussed in this article.

Features of security lighting

First, let's look at what types of garden lighting there are and how they work.

The first one I want to talk about is security lighting - it creates the effect of the presence of people at home.

Since it works automatically, it does not require constant supervision by the owners of the house. Quite very interesting solution, since it only works when a person passes or drives nearby.

Functional garden lighting

The second type of garden lighting is functional. As a rule, this is lighting of individual garden paths and areas. The function is to illuminate these areas well for comfortable movement.

Mostly, paths near stairs, bridges, if any, and steep paths where it would be unsafe to move in the dark should be illuminated.

Choose not bright lighting so that it does not dazzle, but harmoniously illuminates all the space you need, creating a romantic and calm atmosphere.

To do this, you can opt for lamps placed on poles that will illuminate garden paths and stairs.

But, in order not to add formality, do not choose too high lanterns. Since a lantern is not a simple or small lamp, this means that it will be used all year round. Therefore, they need to be selected from high-quality and frost-resistant material.

Functional lighting can do more than just illuminate problem areas, but also to place the accents of the garden - flower beds, flower beds, trees, fountains, and in general anything you want.

But when choosing lanterns, you should pay attention to their light spectra, since they come in cold and warm shades. If you look at it this way, it seems that it doesn’t matter at all.

But on the other hand, this will help you place accents correctly, for example: to put emphasis on green trees, then best choice There will be a warm spectrum of light, and colder rays will appear towards bluer tones.

Another great idea would be to decorate large flower pots with lighting. Just add a few glowing stones to the flowerpot and place them near stairs or benches.

A good way to decorate is by lighting trees and borders. If you have thick and tall trees, so why not use them as lighting for paths, thereby decorating the trees themselves.

Lighting of architectural structures

The next type of garden lighting is architectural. If you have architectural structures in the garden, then you can illuminate them perfectly, thereby placing accents of light on the walls of the house or hellish paths.

Holiday lighting

Although the holiday lighting option is not used all year round, it will still give you joy and good mood.

Facades, garden compositions, trees, benches, stairs - all this can be decorated New Year's garlands. But this composition is suitable only in winter.

Illumination from bottom to top

Top lighting can place accents on individual elements of the garden plot - relief objects, such as stone compositions, bamboo, pergolas entwined with plants.

To create a more fabulous setting, you should install the light source not very close to the object, so it will be fully illuminated.

Backlight from top to bottom

The lower illumination is the opposite of the upper one. If the upper one illuminated from bottom to top, then the lower one illuminated vice versa.

This lighting is more suitable for lighting stairs, benches, flower beds, garden paths, or can simply be used to place accents individual elements garden plot.

Photo of garden lighting

Traditionally, suburban area is a place to relax from everyday life with friends and family. To create a special atmosphere, it is necessary to pay special attention to such important detail as landscape lighting. Garden lanterns will not only help you feel safe in the dark, but also bring a feeling of comfort.

Main selection criteria

When choosing gardening lamps suitable for your site, you should pay attention to the following characteristics:

shapes and sizes of lamps;
lighting brightness and power consumption;
lamp type;
level of protection against dust and water;
the total cost.

When choosing the size and brightness of lamps, it is recommended to focus on the size local area. For a small area, you should not use very powerful large lamps.

There are several categories of lamps used for garden lighting:

The most common and frequently used incandescent lamps in everyday life. They cost less than other types of lamps, but have a much shorter service life;
more modern fluorescent lamps. Their service life is slightly longer than that of conventional lamps, but the price is several times higher;
LED garden lights, which have recently gained popularity. This type of lighting can be considered one of the most expensive, but at the same time the most economical to use.

Solar powered lamps

Separately, it is worth mentioning solar lamps, which are very simple and economical to use. Thanks to the location on the lantern solar panel and the battery, the sun's rays are converted into energy.

When darkness falls, the battery installed inside automatically supplies voltage to the lamp. A well-charged lamp can work for eight hours, that is, almost the entire dark time of the day.

The strength of such lamps is their ease of installation - there is no need to lay cables for the lamp to work. When using autonomous lighting on solar energy you won't have to spend money on electricity by using renewable natural resources.

Choosing suitable lamps for garden decoration

Before deciding on the choice of garden lamps, you should decide which style is closer to you - regular or landscape. In the first case it is meant to use clear lines and correct geometric shapes. Trees and shrubs are not planted randomly, but in symmetrical compositions.

Decorative lakes and ponds have regular shapes, such as a circle or a rectangle. Antique lamps in a simple style will fit perfectly into such a garden. For example, you can look at photos of garden lamps in Peterhof or Versailles.

Garden made in landscape style, is considered the opposite of the first option. Smooth and curved lines are often used for design; plants are planted as naturally as possible, without strict rules. Almost any type of lamps, both modern and from past centuries, are suitable for this design.

How to install garden lighting yourself

The priority task when installing garden lighting is that the lamps should look good both in summer and in winter. Before planting trees and shrubs on your site, plan the location of your garden lamps. This will allow you to competently and economically lay electrical cable throughout the territory.

Basic rules, subject to which, installing garden lamps with your own hands will be quick and safe:

make sure that all electrical parts of the lamps are well protected from moisture;
the cable must be laid deep enough into the ground, at least 50 cm;
to protect against electric shock, lamps must be properly grounded;
all connections must be properly and securely insulated;
lanterns with a height of two meters and above require installation on a foundation.

Correct connection of garden lights

Connection diagrams for lighting fixtures for a personal plot can be divided into two main types - connection via circuit breakers or using a transformer.

First the view is suitable for high-voltage lamps, since the presence circuit breakers will allow the safe use of such lighting on the site. In this case, the lamps are connected in parallel, so that the breakdown of one lamp does not affect the operation of the others.

The second type of circuit is more suitable for low-voltage garden lamps, with a voltage of no more than 24 Watts. The work often uses special induction units, which ensure the operation of up to 40 lamps simultaneously.