Light up your garden this summer (and draw attention to the best bits)

Long summer evenings are the perfect time to sit outside and enjoy the last of the day's sunshine. And with the majority of us juggling manic days as standard, the most time we get to spend at home during the week is in the evenings.

There's nothing quite like relaxing in your own space and an evening outside, after dusk, always has that extra special feel. The problem arises, however, when the magic of your garden disappears with the sunshine.

You've waited all day for that early evening, ice cold summery drink and suddenly everything that is beautiful about your garden is plunged into darkness. You can't see beyond the end of your nose and the time and effort you've put into planning and creating your garden is lost, until the morning.

So if you'd like to make the most of your garden long after the sun's gone down, you need to think about some creative lighting.

And there's lots of choice out there.

Whether you're looking to make a feature in one particular area, enhance your favourite plants or simply light up your garden, there's so many creative ideas for you to explore.

And it isn't a case of one size fits all. To make the most of your space, you probably need to consider combining a few different lighting styles. Some are more functional and will simply serve a purpose, others will be pretty and twinkling to create a magical feel. Both are great and can work well together.

The purpose of your functional staples may be to provide overall lighting across your garden, or at least light up the main areas, such as the patio. 

This type of lighting is likely to be fixed, and powered by your mains electricity. This is because what you need here is reliability. Come rain or shine, they need to work and do their job. This is not to say they won't look good. Functional lighting can be stylish too and chosen to work with an overall theme in your garden.

Then there's the option of portable lighting. It's very description suggests more flexibility. So once you've decided what you are going to light up and how, you can really start the planning.

Fairy lights in trees are a great way to create a expanse of delicate lighting. Depending on where your trees are positioned, this could be a magical addition to your seating area or decking space. Hanging lanterns are also very effective (and pretty) for lighting with height and work well hung on branches or along fencing.

You can complement these with small, low level, individual lights which can be placed around your garden as you choose.

Pick places that will highlight your favourite plants or mark the edge of a feature such as a pond or flower bed. And there's no limit to how many lights you can (or should) add either. As long as you keep it looking stylish and don't overcrowd an area, the overall finish can be very effective.

Lighting your garden at a low level is the perfect way to enhance the textures and colours you've created. 

Depending upon the importance of the low-level lighting in your garden, you may need to consider whether you go for battery LED or solar power lights. For guaranteed illumination, the battery won't let you down (until you run out batteries) but solar lights are obviously only as good as the amount of sunshine they receive. Not the best result at the end of an overcast but warm day.

And don't forget the trusty candle; perhaps the most beautiful lighting effect of all. Especially if you have an outdoor log burner or chiminea on the go as well.

So lighting up your garden really can be fun, and the effect you achieve can be so rewarding. Done well, it's a definite talking point and will work to enhance only the best bits of your garden. Think of this outdoor space as an extra room in your house and draw attention to the focal points. A good, well-lit garden can look stunning and will keep people enjoying the outdoors well into the evening.