Garden lighting can be used to increase the safety and security of your garden! This is especially true if you have children or live in an urban area.  I'll be covering a few things you need to know about garden lighting and hopefully you will avoid some of my mistakes along the way. Since not all garden lighting is created equal there are somen things to watch out for. Things like waterproofing, rusting, durability, and resistance to bugs. Along with these issues you must also consider how you would like to power the lights.

When it comes to garden lighting you have to sit down and think about what you really need. Some people need lights that are bright enough to walk around in the garden at night, and some people just want lights to make their garden look nice. For the latter I highly suggest getting solar lights, specifically solar lights with LED bulbs. Solar LED bulbs are not the brightest but they offer excellent ambient lighting and offer a pleasant ambience to your garden. If you are a late night Gardener, or just like walking through your large garden after dusk, then you will need something a little brighter. You don't want blinding floodlights but you do want lights that are bright enough so that you don't trip and fall in the middle of the night. You can find low-voltage high output LED lights that offer these applications. For those of you who are less worried about being eco-friendly, then normal halogen lights will do just fine. The advantage to halogen lights are that they come in a wide variety of styles and sizes and are very easy to replace and wire up. No electrician necessary and they are cheaper. That being said solar and LED lights are closing the gap fast!

Another important factor to consider is build quality. Those cheapo lights you find at Wal-Mart? They probably won't make the cut for garden lighting. They might have been just fine on the lawn or beside the driveway but gardens have their own special needs. Most gardens get water at least once a day and thats alot of water to throw on your expensive electronic lighting equipment. That being said you must be careful to note the water resistant properties of any prospective garden lighting equipment you choose to buy. Another point to consider is how resistant the fixture is to bumps and bruises. While most gardeners are fairly gentle in the garden, they are in and around the light fixtures a lot more often than they would be if the fixtures were out on the grass or near the driveway. Because of this you don't want a cheap plastic lighting fixture that might break if a small shovel or misplaced foot finds their way home. Another not so wonderful thing about gardens is that they are crawling with bugs. While these bugs give or take life to some of our plants, they also can wreak havoc inside our electric lighting. In a matter of weeks a brand-new garden lighting system can look years old simply from bugs crawling in and getting stuck. Chances are if your garden lighting is fairly waterproof that means it's also fairly airtight, which means not too many bugs are getting in or out.

Here's a fantastic tip for increasing home and garden lighting and decreasing cost. Mirrors are a great tool for reflecting light around your garden. Mirrors can be a classy addition to your garden and they improve overall aesthetics while helping to spread light.

Now that you've got what type of light to use and you got a pretty good idea what to watch out for when it comes to build quality all you have to do is determined what looks best in your garden. This is where you can get creative and essentially choose anything you like. It's your garden after all, and you can do with it as you please. The more creative you are, the cheaper the options get. For example I have seen gardens lit entirely by Chinese paper lanterns, and it looked absolutely amazing. A young mom and her daughter made a weekend project of it while the father of the house was put to work collecting the appropriate wiring and LED lights. Another fantastic option are candles. Obviously you can't use them all the time but they are great to have when you have guests, or are hosting a special event. Candles also don't attract bugs with nearly the same intensity as halogen, and specifically LED lights.

Fencing and statues can also be used in conjunction with garden lights to improve the look of your garden. Garden Fencing Site and Garden Statues Site are both fantastic resources for this application.

Taking all the points in the consideration, I hope you now have a better idea of what to choose when it comes to garden lighting. I know I do!