Your garden space lights up at night — invoking mysticism.Your garden should also glow after dark, and outdoor lighting should enhance the mood. Bare bulbs and spotlights are good for security reasons, but, it’s the subtle lighting that enhances the ambiance, and we suggest some dramatic possibilities outdoor illumination offers.
As outdoor wiring is susceptible to moisture and damage, it requires protection.  Use conduits on the cable if it’s above the ground, though underground cables are most suitable, that should be 12” below the surface. Put a circuit interrupter, a device that trips the circuit, when there is even the slightest leak (which can give a severe shock).

Use your imagination

Be imaginative in choosing the fixtures. Mushroom shaped path lights, have magical tones. A canister of light on the tree, post lanterns, low fixtures along the paths, direct light through shrubs or through the border plants. Highlight a statue, or the rock garden, an old trellis wrought iron bench, the birdhouse, or bird bath.  Down-light flower beds, and flood light larger areas. Use low voltage bulbs to conserve electricity, and as outdoor lighting has to operate long hours, install mercury lamps, which are low in maintenance. Flowers and foliage in white, or silver, show off their colour in minimum lighting, and concealed lighting create magical moments.

Apart from lights, garden embellishments in the form of statues, trendy garden furniture, decorative urns, sculptures, etc, can be considered. Garden furniture in aluminum, wicker, or plastic is more functional for movement, than heavy wooden or wrought iron. Folding and stacking furniture extends ultimate mobility, and corrosion resistant finishes on aluminum furniture, is more practical, low on maintenance and long lasting. Use dirt resistant fabrics for seating and upholstery. Canvas, synthetic vinyls’, are dirt and water resistant and won’t fade.

Charming accessories

A gazebo adds perchance to your outdoor space, creating an idyllic refuge on those lazy summer days, and enchanting moonlight nights. A gazebo is basically a beam and post structure, usually hexagonal, triangular, or circular, with a conical roof. Plan the location, shape and size, to integrate with your yard and home life. It should be attractive without distracting. Wrought iron, brick, or concrete can be used instead of timber. 

A thatched roof has its own charm, but it can be tiled or have trellis. The floor offers a lot of scope for imagination. Gravel, flagstone, slate, brick, bark chips — all work well, and for that extra whimsy and charm, scroll or lattice work under the eves, on railings, doorway, posts, gives a period appeal. The material you choose should be easy on maintenance and durability. Put benches, or chairs, a built-in table — and your gazebo becomes a special place.

Portable sunshades come in exciting colours, and the adjustable umbrellas create a mobile outdoor space, and you can stay in the shade while the sun changes angles.

A wooden deck gives an extension to your living area. A deck is a post and beam construction, usually leading into the house. Decks should be slightly graded to allow drainage. A free standing deck attached with 3-4 steps and a landing blending with the design and colours of the house is functional.

A deck raised 8” above the ground around a tree, with throw cushions, looks neat. You can display some stone or  porcelain urn, ornamental tubs, or fibre glass urns, planted with herbaceous perennials to provide that instant maturity to your deck.

A spa installed outdoors is luxurious, and offers a refreshing soak in an outdoor setting.

Creating luxury

The space you choose should have protection from wind and ensure privacy, and the size depends on the space you have. Spas require heaters, filters, pump, and floor support piers. A tub about 4 x 5 feet, should hold 475 gallons of water. Adjust the thermostat so the water doesn’t become too hot. Though a spa is pretty high on installment and maintenance, it is an antidote to fatigue and stress. A spa inserted under a tree, with a wooden deck around, with benches — is absolutely divine.

A rock garden with a  water body below, is a striking embellishment. A sloping terrain makes it easier to construct and produces a more natural finish. Good drainage is of foremost importance. Prepare the site excavating at least one foot of soil.

Regardless of the shape or size of the rocks, the rocks should be buried, rather than exposed. Arrange the grain so as to follow the contours of each rock, and set them with pockets of soil in between. Work upwards to the pinnacle. The rocks also have a functional value, which is, holding the soil in place, and keeping the roots cool in summer.

Choose small compact specimens of rock plants, rather than the taller ones, and plant them firmly in the soil. In the early days, weeding may be necessary, but once the plants get established, they don’t need much attention, except controlling slugs and snails. Some interesting plants are flowering cacti, succulents, trailing plants, Warley Rose — a low bushy plant producing pink flowers — on a cushion of dainty leaves.

The main attraction of the rock garden is the ability to grow different plants in a small area. The result is ambrosial.

A bird bath on a decorative pedestal, a birdhouse made with a hollow pipe wedged between two wooden stays, bird feeder made of a tin tray with a canopy —can be constructed with minimal expense. Position them away from domestic activity. You may not find birds flocking right away, but once the word gets around — as it were, you can lie in the spa or sit on your deck with the hum of honeybees, flitting of butterflies and twitter of birds — the experience is priceless.