When you choose to add a pond to your garden, the idea is to create a water feature that can bring your outdoors together. A pond, whether you decide to have a fountain, a waterfall, or a plain surface, is a peaceful and soothing accent to the decor. Some pond owners want their pond to be the point of attention in the garden. Others prefer to use delicate and discreet water features along the patio as a decorative element. Regardless of the type of pond you dream of, there is one common issue: You can only enjoy your pond during the daytime.
That’s where the introduction of pond lighting can revolutionize your water feature. Indeed, you can create a dramatic decor that enhances your pond, at any time of the day and night. With the appropriate light solution, you can transform the perception of the pond or highlight only some features at night, creating a new dimension to your garden.
If you’re going to inject new life to your indoor or outdoor water feature, here are our tips for picking the best pond lighting solutions for your needs.
What to consider when you want to light up your pond
Using pond lighting requires an eye for details. Unlike a lightbulb inside your home, when you use light with a pond, you can’t create a fully lit feature. You will need to be smart about where you place the lighting elements and how you use them to create the most pleasant effects. However, before we go too much into detail, it’s important to understand the most common pond lighting mistakes and how to avoid them.
The position of the light is crucial to design an enjoyable effect. You want to consider how your pond lighting will interfere with your everyday life. Indeed, if the light shines in such a way that it interferes with your indoor activities, it can be problematic. For instance, you should also check that your pond lights don’t cause a glaring effect, not only around the pond but also inside your home or for your neighbors. Ill-directed powerful lighting can be disturbing for those who are around.
Every pond is different. If your pond shelters a wildlife ecosystem, it is fair to say that you need to consider how your pond lighting will affect aquatic creatures. Additionally, a wildlife-friendly pond tends to have murky water, which will not look pleasant at night. You can use subtle lighting to highlight some features around the pond and cast an elegant shadow on the murky water. If, on the other hand, your pond is not designed to be a boggy environment, you will need to improve water clarity to make the most of your pond lighting.
Mosquitos are also a factor you want to consider when choosing the best lighting options. Indeed, bugs love lights. If your pond lighting attracts too many insects in the vicinity of your home or patio, the effect is going to be most unpleasant to watch.
Last but not least, using pond lighting is about enhancing some of the features of the pond or the area surrounding the pond. If you use too much light, you will distract away from the charm of your pond. You need to hit the right balance between highlighting some elements and leaving others in the shadows.
You can find a variety of pond lights for your water garden on our site. We appreciate that finding the right pond lighting may be confusing, so follow these tips for best results.
Submersible pond lighting
Submersible lights allow you to place a light underneath or behind the water to create a subtle display. Submersible lights are suitable for a variety of water features. They make a neat addition to a fountain, as you can use underwater lights to highlight the areas where the fountain water hits the surface of the pond. Alternatively, you can also use the light to showcase a waterfall, in which case you need smaller pond lighting features.
The only risk with submersible light is water clarity. Without regular maintenance, algae can build up on the light surface.
Downlighting system for ponds
Using a pond lighting that looks down onto the pond lets you create a natural-looking appearance. It’s the perfect addition to ponds surrounded by trees, for instance, so that you can fix the lights along the trunks or the branches. It is also an interesting way of adding a new layer to a simple pond by creating a moonlight effect. You can bring a warm touch and mix garden features and pond at night with a few led lights , which can be used safely in and out of water. Keeping them in accessible but hidden from plain sight locations makes the feature more enjoyable.
The most common risk with moonlight pond lighting is wildlife. Depending on where you place your lights, birds and other small animals may cause damage.
Uplighting effect
Often called bullet lights or direction lights, pond uplighting creates a pattern of light above the water. You can use this solution to highlight both water and garden features, which makes it the perfect addition to a sophisticated fountain or waterfall pond, for instance.
If you want to use the uplighting features to guide the visitor towards the pond safely, using lights to trace the contour of the pond at night, for instance, the SolaRight Lighting LED Round Pathway offers an elegant solution that can come in several colors.
On the other hand, a more dramatic display can use the Oase Lunaqua Halogen Light, which is ideal for a fountain or a tall waterfall.
For lights that are placed in water, regular pond maintenance will keep algae at bay. Pond lighting used out-of-water will need to be placed out of the way to avoid accidents and breakage.
Do you want a combination of lights, or are you unsure which system works best for your pond lighting needs? Call 215-525-1440 to have a chat with our friendly team.