Classic lighting design is about identifying and blending four core lighting groups: ambient, accent, decorative and task lighting. And when it comes to the outdoor lighting very much the same principles to create successful interior lighting apply; but before we examine these further, there are a few key differences to take note of.

Firstly there is an issue of scale. Indoor spaces are bounded by ceilings and walls and are thus quite restricted when compared to even a tiny garden. Outdoors the ceiling stretches up to the stars and when night falls it’s not clear where the edges are either.

This presents a number of problems and benefits where garden lighting design is concerned. Indoors, much of the light gets reflected from the ceiling and walls which simply increases the level of ambient light in the room. Outdoors however, light simply vanishes into space which creates a strong contrast with nearby areas and causes them to appear even more dark.

This absence of ambient light from reflections renders many interior lighting techniques unusable outdoors. However, it also makes a number of interesting effects possible by utilising the high contrast between light and dark; it is not uncommon to find night time gardens that have been designed to appear completely different to their day time counterpart through the simple expedient of highlighting some features and disguising others.

There is also the matter of how you plan on using your outdoor spaces. A classic garden design theory is that you should regard your garden as an additional room (or set of rooms) and design accordingly, lighting included.

You almost certainly employ different lighting arrangements for various rooms based on their intended use, so bedroom lighting would be quite distinct from kitchen lighting for example. So if you planned on using your deck as a place to entertain then it would be prudent to install lighting suitable for that purpose. Likewise, you would (presumably) use quite different lighting for a pathway or to illuminate say a water feature – different purpose.

Which brings us finally back to the four primary lighting categories and their use outside.

Although ambient light is a cornerstone for the other three lighting types where interior lighting design is concerned, outdoors it can’t easily be used in this way because of the absence of reflective planes; instead ambient light is often pushed to the fore rather than playing second fiddle to the other types. Solar garden lights are a classic example of the kind of diffuse lights that gives a soft, pleasant glow without really calling attention to themselves.

Accent lighting on the other hand is all about highlighting key features and picking out detail and color. It is used to lead the eye around the garden and commonly relies on spot lights and these days LED lights.

Decorative lighting serves much the same overall purpose as accent lighting in that it is there simply to look attractive and catch your eye; the principal difference is that decorative lighting doesn’t illuminate anything else – it is itself the focal point. And like accent lighting, most modern decorative lighting is in fact LED based.

Garden task lighting is not really concerned with being able to read a book and such like but simply providing enough light for people to move around in safety. So path lighting, those LED deck lights that seem to get installed everywhere (and not just in decks) and lighting around areas where people might want to have some vague idea what they’re drinking or eating.

The key to effective garden lighting is the same as with interior lighting design, which is to combine all four of the basic lighting types (it also helps if you can arrange to be able to operate task lighting separately). Like indoor lighting, reliance on just ambient light will result in a drab and indistinct look, while using only accent lighting is likely to come across as harsh and over dramatic, and if you over rely on decorative lighting it will almost certainly come across as disconnected and frankly cheesy.

A really simple way to get a rich combination of the main lighting types is to just buy an assortment of varied light fittings. So pick up some spot lights that cover a range of beam angle and luminosity plus the standard lanterns and path markers. Introduce a few coloured lights to the collection and also aim to use both solar powered and mains low voltage powered lights. As you might expect, contemporary examples of both formats are now LED based.