What’s one of the worst things that gardeners overlook? Their backyard lighting! It’s a huge shame when beautiful gardens that bloom in the daytime can’t shine at night because they lack good lighting. Even if you don’t plan on staying outside in the evenings, strategic light accents can level up your landscape and make a big impression on guests and neighbors. The right lights can improve your safety at night and help your garden come alive even when it’s dark outside. If you need some garden light ideas, just keep reading!
1. Concrete Lighting
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This yard light is handmade from a DIY concrete mold. Building this from scratch gives you full creative freedom over the size, shape, and weight of your garden’s newest light fixture. It gives your landscape a modern industrial look and is great for brightening up important ground details like flower beds or stepping stones. If you’re interested in creating one, follow this helpful tutorial, and don’t be afraid to experiment with fun mold shapes!
2. Charming Tree Lantern
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For a more effortless garden lighting approach, simply hang classic lanterns from bare tree branches. Hanging them from trees helps them be carried by the wind and gives your yard eye-catching dynamic lighting. While candles are the lantern’s traditional light source, it’s best to avoid putting flames and wood in the same place. Luckily, you can look for outdoor-rated electric lanterns that keep your tree well-lit and give your yard a timeless look.
3. Light-Up Fruits
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This fun novelty light is a functional outdoor bulb that imitates the look of a pear! Hiding this in your foliage gives your guests unique easter eggs to find after the sun goes down. If you’re not a fan of peaches, these garden novelty lights come in a wide array of designs and styles, allowing you to choose your favorite fruit lights. You could even take it a step further by installing various butterfly or flower-shaped lights around your garden, creating a magical nighttime wonderland in your own home.
4. Hanging Globes
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These outdoor lights are a statement piece for your garden. Using large bright pendants is a valuable tool that can refine awkwardly empty nooks and crannies in your yard. This stylish choice utilizes empty vertical space and can also highlight your favorite vines and tall plants. The pendant globes you choose can also be used to complement the overall style of your home and is a fantastic garden light.
5. Classic String Lights
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Outdoor string lights are the go-to for backyard lighting. These lights are versatile and can be installed wherever you please. While these are often strung around patios for better overhead lighting, they can also be used to line pathways, to wrap around garden features, or to hang from pergolas and arbors. It’s hard to fail with these lights, and any application is sure to be stunning.
6. Sleek Spiked Torches
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No matter how well you know your garden, nighttime adventures can be dangerous if you don’t have the proper lighting. Instead, you can brighten your garden pathway by using staked LED torches that you can even make yourself! Staking simple yet modern outdoor lights into the ground increase the visibility of what you’re path on and make your garden safer in the evenings. We recommend installing these around garden areas with lots of traffic like playsets, patios, grills, and pools.
7. Warm It Up
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Somehow, most people want to make their yards as bright as possible and choose cool-toned lighting to do so. However, most gardens look more inviting and attractive in warm light. Using warm-tone bulbs and LED lights helps brighten up the area and will complement the green tones in your lovely plants. For highlighting specific garden features, warm light is the best choice for the job.
8. Intricate Path Lamps
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Intricate outdoor lights add dimension to your walkway and can be the perfect design element for simple landscapes. These decorative garden pieces shine a light on both the path and your beautiful greenery without having to be mounted into the soil. Since these are above-ground lights, it’ll be easy to maintain, move, and replace as needed and is great for renters or homes with little greenspace.
9. Starry Night
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These uniquely shaped string lights are a charming piece that ensures your nights will always be bright and starry, regardless of the weather. It’s a simple difference that makes a huge impact and can be used in combination with other light fixtures. You can maximize this star design is by stringing it overhead and all across your garden to imitate a night sky. You could also wrap it around tree trunks and shrubs.
10. Boho Lantern
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This lantern is made of wood and rope, giving it a very in-demand minimalist boho look! Boho lanterns like this can be lit up with candles or warm light bulbs and hung on porch ceilings or key entertainment areas. It’s a striking look that’s great for boho-chic homes and looks great both in the day and at night. It will also mesh effortlessly with woody outdoor furniture.
11. Quirky Umbrella Lights
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If you’re always looking for fun garden features, these umbrella light chains might be exactly what you need. These are fairy lights wrapped around a wire umbrella form that looks cute in daylight and is simply magical at night. It creatively lights up your parties, cookouts, and wine nights, definitely fitting the bill for something quirky for your garden.
12. Stained Glass Pendants
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These pendants are decorated with stained glass that shines brilliantly in your garden. Depending on the light design, you could have luminous colorful orbs floating around your garden or, if you’re lucky, these lights could even throw off colorful patterns on the dark ground. While it’s not the best for increasing garden visibility, it makes an artful statement that’s hard to ignore.
13. Sun-Powered Nights
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Some outdoor light fixtures are difficult to install since it can be challenging to connect them to your home’s power. In these cases, solar-powered lights can save the day! These lights use energy from the sun and automatically light up after sunset. Solar lights come in various designs that imitate standard outdoor lights and, in case you can’t find a solar light in your preferred style, this tutorial might help you.
14. The Lantern Way
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Paper lantern designs are a popular design element in backyard parties. They’re big, bright, and bold light fixtures that will always get people in a glowing mood. These lanterns can come in a variety of styles, shapes, and sizes, making it easy to find ones that match the look you’re going for. For more permanent installations, be sure to position them in covered areas.
15. Playing With Shadows
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In contrast to stained glass pendants, these lanterns have solid walls with a detailed pattern carved into them. These purposeful holes create beautiful shadows when lit up and give your garden a romantic look. It’s a daring and attention-grabbing design that’s not easy to forget. Make sure these lights don’t clash with your landscape by setting them up in unoccupied parts of your garden, such as solid pavers and empty grass space.
16. Garden Glow
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Are you looking for lights that are a little more eccentric and playful? Colorful LED lights give your garden a unique glow that can be customized to the occasion or your mood. Most colored LED lights have multiple shades to choose from and can cover your yard in an unusual yet hypnotizing tint. The freedom to change these colors will make your garden great for entertaining!
17. Rustic Gems
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If you’re a frequent flea market shopper, then it’s time to use your skills to look for an old rustic lantern for your backyard. Authentic vintage lanterns are one-of-a-kind pieces full of history and, if they’ve lasted long enough to fall into your lap, they’ll survive a few seasons in your garden. Even newer rustic-style lights bring in old country charm and will naturally blend in with most yard styles.
18. Lit From Stone
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These backyard lights are made from a simple DIY project that only uses thick wire mesh, large rocks, and an outdoor light bulb. It’s very easy to make, and it’ll provide your garden with custom decorative light posts using barely any effort. Since you don’t need to bind the rocks together, this means you can disassemble it just as easily as you created it, making it convenient for those who tend to switch up their garden designs. Learn how to make these with this guide.
19. Breezy Lighting
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These lights are activated by wind and can be hung from tree branches or garden posts. It means that when a breeze blows by, these lights flicker on. Since they’re wind-powered, these aren’t meant to be a stable light source. Instead, they offer dynamic lighting that keeps tall garden features interesting to the eye. These garden lights can take on all kinds of lantern cover designs and, though it might seem intimidating, you could also make these on your own. Just follow these instructions carefully, and you’ll have a garden to remember!
20. Bottle Lamps
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This endearing lantern chain is made using colorful string lights and recycled bottle tops. It’s a low-cost method of enhancing your light game that produces beautiful results. Between your bottle lamp and the color of your lights, the possibilities are endless for you to illuminate your garden. You could also use a sharp craft knife to cut out unique patterns in your bottle shade to take the design further. Recreate these lights by following these directions.
21. Fairy Lights Kerosene Lamp
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Perfect for both indoor and outdoor spaces, this charming old-school lantern home to warm white fairy lights will brighten up the space without being too loud. You can hang them on trees or line them up on a flight of stairs for a unique garden look.
These kerosene lamps are either battery-powered or solar-powered, but the possibilities of transforming your garden into a gleaming dream gateway are truly endless. If hanging them on trees or lining them up on stairs isn’t an option, line them on your pathways or simply place them on your fence or tabletops. Bring that old rustic charm back to your garden by going old-school on this one!
In Summary
Those were 21 fantastic garden light ideas that can make your garden better than ever before. Whether the lights you choose will be used for function, design, or occasional backyard events, these will take you far and will help your garden be admired no matter the time. Our advice— don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine by experimenting with unique lighting styles and combinations. So, what are you waiting for? Light up your garden now!