1. ILLUMINATE PATHS
The main focus for modern garden lighting ideas is to make sure you can actually see your way around the space. Pictured above, this long narrow passageway joining the house to a roof terrace has cross lighting set into the timber walls to light the way. Uplights set into the plinth illuminate the urn and ‘starry, starry night’ fibre optics in timber wall create a focal point at the end.
2. CHOOSE THE RIGHT NUMBER OF GARDEN LIGHTS
The effect you're going for when deciding how to plan a modern garden is to aim for a beautifully lit space, not an overpoweringly bright arena. In fact, when working out how to position landscape lighting, the less-is-more approach will yield better results.
3. ILLUMINATE TREES CORRECTLY
Enhancing trees and plants can produce magical effects. Jeremy Abington of Bright Earth knows how to bring the best modern garden border ideas to life. He recommends uplighting open-structured deciduous trees from the base to create a sculptural effect.
4. USE THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE OF LIGHT
It's not just enough to know how to position landscape lighting. Getting the right bulbs hue is key, too. All the latest garden trends focus on warm glows. Garden designers tend not to use colored lights in gardens as they can fight with the natural colours of a garden. “Colored lighting can look a bit Las Vegas, but it can work if used sparingly and in water features,' says garden designer Charlotte Rowe.