In warmer months, a backyard can serve as another room for both guests and family members. At other times of the year with the help of accented lighting, a yard can provide pretty views. The outdoors is seen by lighting designers as a room exposed to the elements. The hedges are walls and the trees are ceilings while all of their inhabitants, birds, insects and other fauna, are guests and pests, two entities often synonymous with rooms. An attractive feature, such as a colorful flowerbed, is usually highlighted in whatever lighting design is chosen. Night lighting has its advantages. Unlike the cold light of day, under its forgiving glare one sees only that which one wants to, leaving the rest for another occasion.
If the yard’s accent is to be on a beautifully sculpted tree for example, use at least two lights to bring out its dimensions. One light will flatten everything. Those tiny white Christmas lights can serve a purpose all year round. Tie them to the limbs of bare or leafy trees or weave them around the rail of a deck or the underside of a patio umbrella. Line walkways with votive candles or luminaries (open paper bags filled with sand and a candle). Suspend glass globes of candles from the tree branches. They can be bought (and easily bribed) in garden centers and through home supply catalogues.
Getting back to one of the problems of the backyard (its pests), there are some solutions. Light up the night with citronella candles. Their sharp scent repels bugs and will send them to your neighbor’s yard. (Pretend you know nothing when they complain and tell the bugs to tell the same story.) The smaller candles are more practical as the larger ones have thicker wicks and burn too quickly.
Have YOU any ideas on how to make your backyard another room? Please share your thoughts.
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