Pond Talk

Pond Advice For Small And Large Ponds

pond lights

Pond Lighting For Small Ponds And Water Gardens

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Pond lighting is one of the very best ways to set a particular mood, or highlight certain areas around a small pond or water garden. In this article we’ll provide a few tips and suggestions that will help you choose the right accents for your pond, and we’ll discuss some of the installations that can be done yourself, or when you might want to hire a pro to help.

Pond lighting can add ambiance to your pond and your garden and allow you to enjoy your pond and relax by it after sunset. A pond light is not very expensive to incorporate. You can easily set one or two submersible 20-watt lights into your pond for well under $700.00. You must take care to include proper mounting brackets so that the lights remain in an upright position. These lights can enhance the look of your pond or exterior area almost instantly.

Pond Lighting Options

Floating lights can also be used to improve the look of your pond and the area nearby. This type of pond lighting and underwater lighting can be either solar or electric. There are several types of led and floating lights available today that can be used to adorn gardens and ponds.

Bright LED lights and stellar lights can be placed anywhere without transformers, cords or electrical circuits. You can really set off your landscaping by using solar lights such as stellar lanterns along the path leading to the pond. Pond lights brighten up the surrounding areas and keep frogs and bugs out of your way while you are enjoying your evening snack in the garden. A pond light such as a rock light can give a whole new look to your pond because of its novel rock-shaped design. These low voltage lights can set the mood for the evening by greatly enhancing a plant or rock landscape.

Fiber Optic Pond Lighting

Another new concept when it comes to pond lighting or submersible lighting is fiber optic garden lighting, which can be very useful if your garden has a waterfall. In this case, light is transmitted to the water through cable; a color wheel is also used. However, the disadvantage of using this method is that it can be quite expensive since fiber optic cable itself is expensive.

Landscape Lighting Around The Pond

Oil lamps and candles are inexpensive ways to light up a garden. These minute lighting elements can add great ambiance to the entire setting without increasing your power bill drastically. This type of lighting also suggests that not every form of light needs to go in the pond itself. Much of the mood, as well as safety around the pond can be enhanced through the use of well placed landscape lighting. Some of these lights can be hidden in faux rocks, and conventional solar lighting can be used near walkways to create a safer environment.

Halogen Or LED Pond Lights?

Halogen lights cannot be considered superior underwater lighting because they may not last for a long time. When they fail, the pond has to be drained because it may not be safe to leave a failed garden lighting element in the water for a long time. LED lights that go in the water are a cost effective and viable alternative to halogen bulbs. The best advantage of using LED lighting for ponds is that it can emanate an array of colors and make all the other decorative pieces such as fountains and statues glow in splendor.

Individual features such as sculptures, rocks and waterfalls can be accentuated through various types of lighting. These lighting elements can cause a waterfall to sparkle or illuminate pieces of rock most appropriately. Most landscapers use pond lights such as LED lights for homes because of their economical nature. Pond lighting even with safe LED technology is a task that you must leave to the professionals. An experienced landscaper best installs these lights. He will mount them in the correct locations to get the desired results.

Pond Lighting – Illuminate Your Water Garden

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There are a many things you can add to a water garden to bring color and vitality to it’s appearance but few will have the impact like a well placed display of pond lighting. Add some underwater lighting to a koi pond and your fish will literally shine as they lazily swim along.

Many people truly enjoy spending time around their pond during the day but with proper pond lights in place you can extend your leisure time pondside well into the evening hours as well. Really in terms of designs and layouts, just about anything goes as there are a number of lighting options available.

Pond Lighting Options

In most ponds it’s suggested to use a variety of light placements and types for the best effects. Options to work with include submerged lighting, spotlights, floating light kits, fountain lights, light bars, and solar powered lighting. Not all lighting needs to go in the pond as well and landscaping and waterfall areas can be highlighted. Most kits come with optional colored lens or light diffusers to soften the lighting effects.

Many kit manufacturers are working on systems that will provide more presentation options with increasing colors, transitions, and some degree of programing which will make managing the effects more simple and easy.

Also keep an eye out for LED displays which use light emitting diodes to create illumination. Historically LED’s would give of a blue hue or blue cast that wasn’t consider attractive by many pond people. Recent advances in technology however have improved colors and LED’s use lower voltages than halogen bulbs. It’s important to consider the initial cost and working life of the various bulbs and usually the long term cost of running LED’s over halogens is better, despite the fact that LED’s may cost more upfront.

Planning The Light Layout

Ideally it’s best if you can do some pre-planning on the type of effects you want in your pond. Research presentations by looking through pond catalogs or online resources and try to determine what might look best in your pond and meet your personal tastes. It’s fairly easy to determine by looking what types of lighting are being used, and then it’s just a matter of finding the right components for your layout.

Power availability is useful but due to increased options and quality improvements, solar pond lighting is a viable choice for many installations. Depending on the models, these may not have quite the power of an AC system.

An additional thought that may not be mentioned often enough concerning light placements is to consider safety around the pond. Lighting can provide additional protection from various accidents if it’s used correctly and this is another reason why most pond owners eventually consider adding lights to their pond.

Additional Tools And Tips

We can’t leave the topic of safety without talking a little bit about electricity around the pond. All electrically powered devices, including lighting, must be powered by a line that includes a GFCI or ground fault circuit interrupter. GFCI’s protect you in several ways. First, they shut off the electrical current if a ground fault occurs, and secondly they’ll go off in the event of an overload on the circuit or something shorts out.

To save on costs, it’s suggested to use a timer with your lighting system if possible. This just makes life easier and it will save money in the long run. Some lighting kits are motion activated and these in particular are helpful in regards to pond safety. As odd as it may sound, people have accidentally fallen into a small pond in the dark.

If a pond lighting kit is set up correctly and proper precautions are in place, your pond can be a safe and tranquil gathering place for friends and family. No doubt many of them will remark that the lighting makes your pond stand out in ways that it never did before.