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Garden Lighting
12 products
Garden lighting done well is not about brightness. It is about marking edges — a path, a step, the corner where the lawn ends — so a garden reads as a space after dark rather than a black rectangle beyond the glass.
Almost everything here is solar, which means no cable, no electrician and no trench: dimmable bollard lights at 1.2m, 1.6m and 1.77m, Victorian three-head lamp posts at 1.8m, lamp posts with an integrated planter, rattan solar floor lanterns and a Boho floor lamp with a shelf. There is also a 13.6m warm white LED string. Prices are £29 to £109.
Filters
13.6m Warm White Decorative LED String Lights | Kaiku
From £37
1.3m Solar Lamp Post Lights, Set of 2, Black | Kaiku
From £39
Rattan Solar Floor Lantern, Brown | Kaiku
From £39
Solar Lamp Post Light with Planter, Black | Kaiku
From £39
Rattan Solar Floor Lantern, Grey | Kaiku
From £43
1.2m Dimmable Solar Bollard Lights, Set of 2, Black | Kaiku
From £45
1.77m Solar Bollard Lantern, Black | Kaiku
From £45
Boho Rattan Solar Floor Lamp with Shelf, Yellow | Kaiku
From £49
1.6m Dimmable Solar Bollard Lights, Set of 2, Black | Kaiku
From £56
1.6m Dimmable Solar Bollard Light, Black | Kaiku
From £59
Three-Head Solar Lamp Post with Planter, Black | Kaiku
From £78
1.8m Victorian Three-Head Solar Lamp Post, Black | Kaiku
From £109
How to choose
Light the edges, not the middle. A pair of bollards at a step, one at a corner and one at the end of a path does more for a garden than a floodlight, and it does not turn the patio into a car park.
Give solar the sun it needs. A solar light in the shade of a hedge will disappoint whatever the specification says — it wants six hours of direct light on the panel, so place the panel for the sun and the fitting for the effect, which on the taller lamp posts are usefully the same thing.
Aim low and warm. Anything above about waist height that points sideways is glare in someone's eyes and a nuisance to a neighbour. Warm white (around 2700K) reads as an evening garden; cool white reads as a security light.
Stake it properly and expect winter to be quieter. Push the spike into firm soil, not into a pot of loose compost. And a solar light in December with eight hours of grey daylight will run for an hour or two, not all night — that is the technology, not a fault.
Common questions
- How much sun do solar garden lights need?
- About six hours of direct light on the panel to fill the battery. In the shade of a hedge or a fence they will underperform however good the fitting, so site the panel for the sun first.
- Will solar lights work in winter?
- They work, but for less time — a couple of hours rather than all night on a grey December day. That is the daylight available, not a fault with the light.
- Where should I put garden lights?
- At the edges and the changes of level: either side of a step, at a path corner, at the end of a lawn. Lighting the boundaries makes a garden read as a space; lighting the middle just makes a bright patch.
- Warm or cool white outdoors?
- Warm white, around 2700K. Cool white reads as a security light and flattens planting; warm light makes foliage and stone look as they do by day.