Category Design & Inspiration

I work in the high desert of New Mexico, and I have installed solar lighting in yards where the ground…

The first time I sat in my garden at dusk and watched a moonflower unfurl, I understood why people build…

Bog gardens and wetland areas are some of the most rewarding spaces to light at night, but they are also…

Water transforms garden lighting in ways that no other element can. A still pond doubles every light source, creating mirror…

A specimen tree is the anchor of a garden design. It is the plant you built the rest of the…

There is a specific kind of relaxation that happens in a hammock or garden swing at night that you cannot…

A garden bench is an invitation. It says, sit here, stay a while, look at what is around you. But…

Mixing warm white and cool white solar lights in the same yard is the most common lighting mistake I see,…

The narrow urban backyard is a specific beast. I am talking about the 20-foot-wide, 40-foot-deep rectangle flanked by a six-foot…

A Japanese garden is a composed landscape, built around principles of asymmetry, restraint, and the suggestion of nature rather than…

Most yards have one kind of solar light. Usually it is a row of path lights, or a single flood…

A funny thing happens to most backyards after sunset. The patio still exists. The flower beds are still there. The…

A courtyard garden is a specific lighting challenge that most guides do not address, because it is not like a…

Outdoor dining has a lighting problem that most people solve badly. You set a beautiful table on the patio, you…

Outdoor spaces suffer from a problem that indoor spaces solved centuries ago. Inside your home, walls, doorways, and ceiling height…