The Breathtaking Garden Lighting Trend That Oozes Charm And Tranquility

Lighting up your garden or backyard can make your space more inviting in the evenings as the sun goes down. Finding the right ones, though, isn't always easy. Some are too bright, like flood lights, while others just feel too fake or unnatural. For lighting that highlights your garden while remaining soft and natural, moonlighting may be ideal. As the name suggests, moonlighting aims to recreate the effect of silvery moonlight shining onto your yard. It emphasizes soft, gentle lighting to create a cozy ambiance.

This is fairly normal for garden lights, especially at night, when you just want enough to highlight the area and make it possible to see. However, one more step helps more accurately mimic the effect of moonlight. To make it feel like it's streaming down from the sky is to hide your fixtures up higher, rather than below eye level. Generally, for the best feel, you want the light at least 25 feet above the ground. This means attaching them to pergolas or stringing them through trees.

You also want to make sure you choose the right type of outdoor lighting for your yard so that it'll last a long time and not cause so many headaches down the road. Incorporating vines and leafy branches can produce dappled beams, closely mimicking natural moonlight. This also stops the lights from blinding you as much if you decide to look up.

Moonlighting relies on multiple soft lights rather than a few bright sources. Allow lights to overlap, creating places that are brighter and darker, like you would find naturally with moonlight under canopies. You can use a combination of different forms of illumination. String lights can help add an ambiance, while a floodlight with a dimmer bulb can highlight parts of your yard and add a brighter spot like pure moonlight.

Patience is essential when arranging your lighting design. It may take a few tries to get it how you're happy with it. It's also worth noting that while you could go entirely for a moonlit look, you don't have to. Consider mixing elements, like DIY light-up logs, to introduce rustic charm and extra illumination. You can also choose a charming and subtle look with a Dollar Tree lighting hack that adds some style to your yard.

One downside of this method, besides the time it will take to set up, is how to power all of those lights. Using multiple lights across different areas can result in numerous cords across the yard, complicating setup. Solar-powered lights offer a practical alternative. Additionally, this method does go against most of the outdoor lighting tips that help reduce light pollution, but you can mitigate these effects somewhat by using timers so they aren't running all night long.