British winter nights are long, and although this can be seen as time to rest, recuperate and snuggle up indoors, being able to enjoy our gardens and move through them safely often requires some lighting. The designers of the RHS Glow light installations at the RHS Gardens for the last two years, SLX, a B Corp production and technical solution provider, share their top tips on what, where and how to get the look.
- Try to use outdoor lighting for short periods only, to reduce the impact on local wildlife
Tips for creating your own light installation
Festive balls of fire
Join two hanging baskets together using floristry wire or garden Twine is a soft, fine loosely woven string treated with preservatives for outdoor use. Used for tying in climbers and other plants to supports.
Create living galleries
Bring the art gallery outdoors. Build a light frame, where people can take selfies or group pictures. This would work really well for a community setting amongst evergreens. Attach outside lights around a simple box or wire frame and add greenery for that finishing touch.
Frame a view
What may seem dull by day can look stunning at night. Lighting enhances textures and shapes, so choose interesting plant shapes or garden features such as pots, pergolas and other structures or specimen trees and play with lighting colours to find what works best to make it stand out. Make lead-lines that draw your eye into the garden space using path lights.
Shades of light
Try to use warm white rather than cold white, everything just looks better and creates more of a homely glow. Amber also works really well. Play with either harmonising colours, that sit next to each other on the colour wheel such as red and gold or contrasting colours like gold and blue for a vibrant look. Leaf colours respond differently to each other with light – an oak tree, for example, responds well to green and blue, magenta and amber, whereas if you shine red light on an evergreen leaf, it just tends to look black.
Fairy jars
Fill Kilner jars or other clear containers with fairy lights, such a simple but pretty idea that works well as path lights, on either side of a door, hung on a balcony or to line a flight of steps, making it perfect for every size of space.
Stunning silhouettes
Deciduous trees and shrubs have beautiful skeletal structures, which can be enhanced using lighting, to really bring out the form. Play with the shadows that are created by keeping the lights closer to the trunk to enhance the structural form of the tree. Evergreens, however, take shades of green, cyan and pure white light really well. Position the light further away from the tree to catch the full height of the tree.
“Look out for some surprises at the RHS Gardens this year. At RHS Rosemoor the trail will pass under the road into the upper garden for the first time, RHS Wisley has a new watery wonder, and at a few gardens we are creating a new exciting interactive installation with giant petunias, which change colour and sounds when you touch them. It’s all about creating a journey of discovery,” says Alex Keighley, Lighting Designer for RHS Glow at SLX.