Light up your patio

patio lighting
Light up your garden with outdoor fairy lights and oil lanterns
© John Lewis

When the warm weather does grace us with its presence why not light up your patio and enjoy it both day and night. We’re not in the Victorian era anymore – artificial lights as well as lanterns and candles add ambience and will prolong barbecues well into the evening. With help from Andi Clevely’s comprehensive book, ‘Patios’, you’ll know how to light up safely:

Lighting

Including artificial lighting in the patio decor can completely alter its character, allowing you to enjoy the hours after sundown and adding a touch of enchantment or drama to the setting. The display can be as basic or elaborate as you wish, from a tiny fleet of café lights floating in a dish of water to a fully choreographed sequence of fibre optics.

Choose with restraint: the best lighting effects are subtle and unobtrusive, whereas too much light easily dispels the charm and intimacy of alfresco evenings on the patio.

It is important to distinguish between the two main functions of outdoor lighting

Patio lighting from Debenhams
© Debenhams

Primary lighting

This is essentially functional, installed for safety, security or convenience. It may consist of floodlights that bathe large areas in strong light triggered, perhaps, by an intruder sensor, or spotlights with focused beams for smaller targets like steps, a barbecue or a hazardous corner. Solar spikes store power by day to illuminate paths and patio edges after dark.

Secondary lighting

This is used for entertainment or aesthetic impact, to create moods, mystery or a play of light and shadow. Spotlights concealed under water or beneath plants as uplighters are a simple way to achieve these effects, while fibre–optic devices can be installed in the patio floor, in trees or twined along trellis for playful colour and sparkle.

Lighting safety

• Electricity is dangerous outdoors. Always get a qualified electrician to install a mains supply to waterproof power points.

• Minimize risks by choosing low–voltage equipment connected to the mains via a transformer.

• Fit an RCD (circuit breaker) at the main socket to cut the current in the event of an accident.

• Use strong weatherproof cable and sturdy supports when mounting lamps.

• Shield flares, candles and other naked flames from wind, and use well away from flammable materials.

This is an extract from ‘Patios' by Andi Clevely.

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