(Festive) Lighting

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Efficient and Wildlife-Sympathetic Lighting Solutions

Done correctly, lighting can enhance a garden, drive added benefit, use and utility for ratepayers, without proving overly disruptive to wildlife.

Whilst some may argue Garden Lights are a drop in the bucket when it comes to Urban Light Pollution, we still encourage responsible design especially with regards to birds (including Owls) and bats.

Soft, Low-Level Path / Shrub Lighting

We can install soft, low level lighting next to Garden Paths, adding a subtle backdrop to a Garden overnight, increasing the sense of security, and making it a more welcoming place for ratepayers.

Such lighting is designed to have minimal impact on birds, bats, animals and insects, with each lights position and angle carefully considered to avoid creating unnecessary light pollution (especially upwards light), or disturbing likely nesting locations.

We also prioritise the use of Warm White light (3000k+) to reduce blue-light creation.

Moving Away from Intensive Spotlights

Whilst all the rage for the last few decades, bright spotlights shining into the sky, including those uplighting large trees, are thought to have a significant negative impact on Birds and Bats, including but not limited to:

Scaring away night time hunters, especially owls
Deterring many species of Bats, causing them to abandon or become trapped in their roost
Interrupting the Natural Sleep Cycle of wildlife ( “circadian rhythms”)
Interrupting / Preventing natural migration cycles

Sadly these impacts are all too easy to witness for yourself. If you know a local square with a lot of spotlights on Trees, go there shortly after dusk and you will likely hear a far larger number of song-birds singing than in darker garden, more sheltered from unnatural light.

Many Wildlife Surveys of Garden Squares encourage the removal of floodlights without any compensating replacement.

However, we find most of our clients prefer the middle ground of switching to more wildlife-friendly lighting in select locations, with planned dark zones, rather than abolishing lights in the Garden altogether. An initiative we will happily support.

Feature Lighting

Our low level lighting can also be used to highlight ground features in the Garden, such as the wishing-well fountain shown.

In this example the babbling water bowl itself is lit with a low powered light, creating a visual interest without significant wildlife / environmental impact, meanwhile low level 6w lampsts are used to illuminate the sides of the historic wishing well.

Instantly Festive: A Flagpole Christmas Tree

For Gardens looking for a quick and easy way to add festive cheer – our best solution is a Festive Flagpole “Tree”.

We typically recommend “Trees” that are 6-12m tall. The Flagpole used by the tree is collapsible into sections for storage, and when assembled is slotted into a plastic sleeve buried into the ground and all-but-invisible through the year.

Prices to supply and install a flagpole tree start at £999, including training for your local gardening team to conduct the (dis)assembly works in going forward if that is your preference.

Complete Festive Light Design

For Gardens looking for a more impressive Festve Lights Display, we are happy to design and install whole-garden displays, as shown in the prior video.