How to get your garden glowing with sustainable lighting

We source the most sparkling, economical and eco-friendly lighting to revamp outdoor living spaces of all sizes for summer

Bollards used in singles and rows are an ideal solar installation that will serve you most of the year. File picture

June 20 will be the longest day of the year, so many of us are already plotting and planning to luxuriate in that extra room outdoors, with additional lighting features prompted to live at dusk. USB-charged and solar units are the most sustainable choices for illuminating even the furthest reaches of the garden.

As with anything, you really will get what you pay for, and it’s important to understand a few key characteristics of this lighting type.

Always start with function. Soft ambient, decorative lighting is not hard-wired security lighting. Garden steps can be dangerous going. Ensure all your practical needs are met.

Any lighting feature used outdoors must be IP44 rated against the wet conditions typical of even an Irish summer. Whether it’s out in the rain on an unsheltered patio or out across the lawn, bring this to IP65 or even IP67.

Even with a residual current device (RCD plug), mains-fed lighting not intended for showers is dodgy used out on the patio or picnic table.

If you do use any indoor-rated electrical units or appliances, put them through an RCD, unplug and whisk them straight in at the first sign of rain and before the dew settles at dusk.

For a warm light, look for 3000 Kelvins (K). To mimic natural daylight, try 4000K to 5000K.

The cooler urban edge of 6000K is easier to find in mains lighting for outdoors (and it’s pretty bleak).

RECHARGE

Rechargeable lamps, strings and pendants can add magic to any patio, balcony or garden as you can power them up to work for periods of 8-12 hours all year long. They are more convenient than standard disposable battery models, and there’s no need to worry about dumping and replacing pricey, depleted AAs and AAAs. They are also more dependable than solar lighting which relies on a bright day for a full charge. With no leads to bother about, place USB models wherever you want, just avoid bulb models clashing repeatedly on hard surfacing by a prevailing wind.

Living in a rental? Stick with plug-and-play solar and USB, which can include app-controlled festoons and bulb cables to dim and glow up from your phone. Like any outdoor lighting, IP44–IP67, USB models should take you into winter, with a shower-proof design and the ability to shine through even sub-zero temperatures (cold weather depletes batteries).

Paper lanterns in real paper or plastic are trending. Use them and other pendants hung from your favourite specimen trees, inviting guests to wander and gather in different areas of the garden; Paper Starlights. 

Look for heavy-duty cords for string lights to spots and bulbs for longevity, and dual-powered models that can be both solar-powered and perked with a USB charge as needed. Large bulb designs should feature a small drain hole to ensure moisture does not gather in the housing. Keep in mind that USB lighting and dainty solar strings are largely decorative. Don’t rely on feeble lumen choices to guide you along paths and patios.

Bright buys: The Ruby LED table lamp is an economical buy with a warm 3000k Kelvin reading that delivers an indoor-outdoor sophistication. Pod-shaped with a leather-style carrying handle, charge it up and place it indoors or out. It even features a tap-touch colour change, fun for kids camping in the garden; €32.90, lights.ie.

Explore rainproof, USB models with integral blue-tooth speakers like the bonnet-shaped Vappeby from Ikea, €65. Clustered orbs and large star shapes are an enduring garden favourite. My nod goes to Paper Starlights for the iconic, hand-crafted FairTrade shiners. These individually screen-cut beauties are popped open and filled with your choice of LED strings or bulbs (under 40 watts). They can be set out in pergolas and garden rooms, and under the cover of a porch or awnings for spring and summer occasions (a stunning wedding keepsake); from €16.95 for singles, €65-€101 for stellar bundles, paperstarlights.com.

SOLAR

Supremely eco-friendly, solar lanterns, pendants, strings and festoon lighting can go where mains power cannot reach. Completely free to power up, they can be tailored to suit the situation or occasion. Just let them charge up via their photovoltaic cell (the design ensures they are off during daylight hours) and they will shine out after dark. Solar stakes, plunged into the lawn or bedding deliver instant, inexpensive direction and focus.

Add towering height to the garden lighting up single specimen trees, and high cables between posts or trees with solar pendants suspended on the length like glowing fruits. Solar strings captured in any large glass jar will produce inexpensive, glow-worm table lighters.

Look out for solar PV water fountains with integral lighting. Cheap and cheerful, they also provide aeration to the water of a smaller wildlife pond distant from mains power. Submerged lighting will be IP68 rated. Bollards with etched lamp housings will downlight patterns onto the ground — fascinating on hard landscaping. Add fairy lights over pergolas to bring down a starry sky.

The recharge times for solar lighting will be longer on an overcast day and will depend on the size of the integral panel. Tilt your PV solar unit to the south in an unshaded spot. Charge times vary from 8-12 hours for full service from a larger spike or mini-bollard, and actual running times by night will fall as the days shorten in September. Expect a long initial charge time.

Flower-heads and starbursts are trending this year in white and colour phase models. Quality metal Dandelion, €35.95, Annabel James. 

Solar batteries do degrade and will gradually lose some of their capacity. LED solar units can live up to 20,000 hours, so they are a great buy (anodised aluminium is a safe choice). Cheaper LED units in USB, solar and USB/solar combos are often not replaceable.

Bright buys: Don’t fancy that twinkling Narnia of lanterns and fairy lights? Add urban edge with Daya wall lights. A sleek pinch of two planes of 220 lumens, IP65 and 3000K warm light, dipped beams are perfect for paths and Daya comes with four working modes; €20.95, lampandlight.ie.

Solar stakes don’t have to behave. Look up the juicy varieties of Cactus and Pineapple cabana styling for a tropical glow to paths and patios. Decorative hanging firework styles, windmills, and large waving seed heads with pin-points of shifting colour are everywhere this spring.

These delightful character choices have up to 8-12 modes for theatrical, synchronised combinations using smart, colour mapping. Choose white, black or silver wires and housings (sculptural and pretty by day); from €16.99, lightinthebox.com.

CANDLES

All combustion produces pollution, and this includes fire pits, BBQs and candles. Once safely supported, outdoors is the most appropriate and healthy place to burn scented candles and tea lights. Recent research has revealed that even essential oils release troublesome, irritating toxins into indoor air.

Scented candles were cited by a major Danish study (Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 2023) as the major cause of indoor air pollution in winter stirring up particulate matter (tiny PM2.5 particles), aldehydes, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide and VOCs. We have completely stopped the practice here.

Hudson Valley (Lux) Beckham Lantern; €36, Sweet Pea and Willow.

When outdoors go for a clean burn with as little soot as possible by trimming wicks, using soy and beeswax candles and votives, USB-charged waterproof candles, and limiting your use of scented paraffin varieties where possible. Lanterns offer the extra benefit of screening the flame from the wind and standing to attention down the centre of a long table to have a stately presence.

Bright buys: Make an economical DIY display with a wide, deep flowerpot filled with sand. Plunge long tapers into the sand at staggered heights, and place them at safe distances from your diners.

Available for real candles or in solar/battery/USB varieties, metal lanterns are trending. Use real candles for the mesmerising flutter of flame in an adult setting. I would suggest Moroccan styles as the piercing creates beautiful patterns across the tablescape. La Hacienda has a good variety from €35. Hand-rolled beeswax candles burn with a gentle flame and release a sweet and comforting scent of honey and beeswax. Handmade in Cork using 100% pure beeswax in a honeycomb pattern and braided cotton wick; €14.75 for three, hannasbees.ie.