Decorative Solar Lighting - Improve The Look Of Your Garden

Friday, June 13th, 2008
by Rhia Taylor

Today there are numerous different styles of decorative solar lighting one can choose from to help enhance the look of your garden. Even if you do not have a garden just a terrace or a balcony this form of outside solar lighting can help to bring it to life for you.

In this article we are going to be taking a look at some of the different kinds of outside solar lighting one can now use to decorate and enhance your garden.

1. Terracotta Solar Sphere Lantern - This is the perfect way for adding ambient lighting to an entertaining area outside. Can either be placed on table tops or around the edges of your decking or patio. The lantern is sphere shaped and has cutouts in the side to allow more light to flood out and produced silhouetted lighting effects.

2. Firefly Solar Light - These come with a stainless steel stake which allows you to place them anywhere you want in your garden. On top of the stake is a very beautiful hand blown cracked glass globe which at night emits a very pale glow in the garden. Although mainly used as a decorative form of lighting can also be used as accent lighting to show up dark obstacles or to help light the route of a pathway.

These forms of decorative solar lighting provide the area where placed with a warm subtle glow to it. These are ideally used in areas of the garden which generally look drab and dull to add more color to them.

3. Floating Solar Light - These come in a variety of different colors and will float on the surface of your pool, pond or other water feature. During the day as it floats around on the water it will collect energy from the sun and then at night they turn themselves on providing a muted glow to the water as they float around. Not only are they east and fast to install but cost nothing to actually operate them.

4. Rock Shaped Solar Lighting - This type of lighting using solar energy can be placed anywhere within your garden. A lot of people will use these as a way of providing light for a path that is in theirs. Whilst others will use it to highlight steps leading up to a paved or decked area in theirs. Some people just use this form of decorative solar lighting as a way to add accent to certain plants in their gardens.

5. The Stepping Stone - Another great decorative solar light for the garden that you can purchase either from a reputable garden supplies store or online. These lights are great for marking out pathways to show people where to go as they meander around your garden at night, making it a much safer place for everybody to enjoy. Around the light is a solar panel which collects energy during the day from the sun and then releases the energy to power the light within once night begins to fall.

These lights and all the outside decorative solar lighting we have mentioned in this article is very easy to install and use. Plus the cost of actually running them once they are installed is nothing. Most of the solar lights available today especially those we have mentioned here will automatically turn themselves on and off. On average these types of lights as long as they have collected enough energy from the sun will last for around 8 to 10 hours without the need for any external power source.

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Bringing Asia to Your Backyard

Monday, May 19th, 2008
A kaiyu-shiki or strolling garden

Image via Wikipedia

by Kent Higgins

With greater interest being shown in Asian culture and practices in recent years, oriental or ‘Zen’ style gardens have also shown an increase in popularity. Featuring design elements inspired by traditional Japanese gardens, oriental gardens typically consist of things such as water from a pond or small waterfall, pagodas and oriental garden lights.

These oriental garden lights are available as solar garden lights, which require no electricity, storing up the sun’s energy during the day through a Nicam battery, and then releasing it at night through an LED connector which can hold up to a 15 hour charge. These solar lights are easily installed, cheap, and environmentally friendly.

A popular choice among oriental style solar lights is the pagoda solar garden light. Designed in the shape of a pagoda, which is a tiered structure with angled eaves, these lights offer a striking and stately design. The pagoda solar lights are attached to a pole inserted into the ground, and are most often used along pathways, to surround open gathering areas, or tucked in the corners of decks.

Another traditional oriental garden touch is the use of solar stones to provide gentle illumination to dark areas. These stones look not unlike real stones, but have small solar panels inserted into the middle of them. They require no form of installation or upkeep, they can simply be placed in any area that fits their aesthetic design and they’re ready to work. These stones may come in particular shapes, the most common of which is the hexagon, a shape symbolic in Feng Shui philosophy.

Garden lamps are a perfect accent to a traditional styled garden, being made from granite or concrete, or a durable plastic mold made to look like granite. These lamps feature hollow interiors from which the light illuminates, the energy for which comes from the solar panel on their top, which charges throughout the day.

Finally, wall sconces add a unique look to any garden, and are especially suited to small garden areas enclosed by walls on at least one side. These sconces can be attached to the side of any wall or deck, providing gentle white or amber light over your garden. Solar wall sconces can be found in a plethora of styles and colors.

You won’t be left wanting for great design choices when constructing an oriental garden centered around great led solar landscape lighting. These lights can be found in many gardening or craft related stores, or through the internet at similar dealers or through dealers specializing in Asian or Asian style products.

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