Spike Up Your Garden for The Summer! Spike Lighting Tips

When summer rolls around, you can always expect natural light to make a big difference to interior design. But what about your garden? While you may not have spent too much time outside in the colder months, good weather means outdoor gatherings. Therefore, it stands to reason that you may stand considering external illumination.

If you look through our catalogue, you’ll find that there are plenty of outdoor lighting options! However, if you don’t want to set up permanent wall lights, for example, more flexible options are available. Have you ever considered spike lighting for your garden, for example?

Spike lighting comes in a variety of different shapes and standards. Some are tall, some are short, others are solar-powered, and there are traditional ones. In any case, many people choose to spike their lights to help enhance the look of their outdoor spaces after dark.

Coming up, we will take you through everything you need to know about spike lights. Why might they be the best choice for you and your garden? Which options are likely to work wonders for you? Keep reading for the complete lowdown.

What is Spike Lighting?

As the name suggests, Spike lighting is illumination you can spike into the ground. Many people install spike lighting in the soil or around their paving to various effects. Unlike standard, fixed lighting solutions, spiked installations can be set up almost anywhere. All they need is a firm foundation and a clear purpose.

That’s not always so easy to come across, which is why we’ve created this guide. Spike lights at their cheapest and most commonly available are solar-powered. These pods will consume solar rays and store energy in batteries. The batteries will then power on and up in the dark to transfer light far and wide.

However, some people’s primary issue with typical spike lighting is that they can be pretty restricted. That is, in terms of their light and reach. At their cheapest, solar spike lights will generally light straight up and a little around. Perfect for versatility and a modular lighting effect – but not necessarily for washing a wider space.

That’s partially why there has been a significant boom in more flexible spike lights over the years. For example, spike and ground lighting available from Arrow Electrical has swivel heads and points for you to change lighting direction.

What may surprise you is that spiked lighting is becoming more and more affordable. On top of this, there are a wealth of different shades, tones and styles. We generally provide leading LEDs in our spike lights. However, you do also have a clear say over unit colour. For example, you may choose a minimal black or stylish brass.

Spike lighting is, effectively, garden lighting that’s ready to go when you are. You can easily set up spike lights if you have soft yet sturdy ground to act as a foundation. There’s very little need to worry about installation, and they are incredibly flexible.

In fact, spike lights can be crucial for larger gardens in need of broader illumination and dispersal. That said, smaller lawns can benefit, too.

Lighting the Way

Spike lights are generally used to help light the way or help keep gardens and outdoor spaces signposted. It obviously becomes difficult to see your way in the garden when the sun goes down. That is, of course, unless you already have some form of lighting array already set up and ready to go.

Spike lights can be used in various patterns and alignments to help lead the way. You could create a genuinely dazzling run of lights to bring out your pathways. You could use the same arrangement to highlight trees and shrubs alongside, too.

Of course, as we always say, you can bring too much illumination together. Things can become intensively bright unless you carefully space your pods and spikes apart. Therefore, it does pay to look carefully at planning how you space your lights apart. If you are less interested in lighting up a pathway and want to focus more on scattering beams across the garden, go sparse.

There are some mighty LED spike lights available on the market. While many think of a spike light only casting out a short beam or small amount of light, times change. Popular fittings such as our great contemporary black garden spike light will help light travel far and wide.

If you are careful with how you lay out your spike lights, you can create an all-over garden light spray. Of course, it’ll take a little adjustment with the flexible lighting heads, but anything’s possible. Why not consider positioning spike lights in the corners of your garden space? These may help create an all-over lighting effect without completely overpowering your guests.

Spike lighting can be used to a practical end. However, they are also sought after as stylish touches to contemporary outdoor spaces. These lights don’t just help keep your garden well lit when the sun goes down. They look fantastic in all light levels – and if you are careful enough, they won’t stick out like sore thumbs!

Be Careful with Other Fittings

As with any lighting setup (inside or out) – be very careful with other lamps and lights you have in place. While gardens and yards can be large spaces, it’s very easy to create an intensive, all-over light wash. Position spike lights too close to wall lighting, for example, and you undo the effects of both.

The aim, of course, is to measure and plan. The great news with spike lights for the garden is that you can plan on the go. They are light enough and portable to place around the garden to test as you explore. It’s not always simple to know how light will look before seeing it in practice.

Great use of spike lighting with other bulbs and lamps is the angling and pivoting of their heads. By angling your spike light heads, you can ensure that you beam away from existing fittings and fine-tune the effect. As we’ll explore below, it’s also essential to consider tones and temperatures with beam angles, too.

Otherwise, it may be worth starting from scratch. If you do not already have any form of lighting in your garden or outdoor space, spike lights are great, to begin with. If you already have wall lights or solar fittings, be sure to consider how much you need them.

Could you benefit from a more flexible, manageable lighting solution? Removing and refitting permanent or immovable lights and lamps can be arduous and costly. Therefore, it does make sense to plan ahead of time. Are you noticing a theme here?

Moreover, you don’t have to worry extensively about clashing different lights and lamps too much with spike fittings. They are straightforward to manage and balance, with flexibility being the key. Therefore, providing you have even a vague idea of how you’d like your garden to be lit, it’s worth planning as you go.

Consider Finishes and Tones

This is undoubtedly a general point for most garden and outdoor lighting. However, it’s still essential. It is a common misconception that spike lights only ever arrive in simple blacks or silvers. As the market and demand have expanded over the years, so have the tonal and style possibilities.

Summarily, it pays to keep an open mind regarding colours, finishes, and sheens. Even the finish and material of your spike lights can change the look and tone of your outdoor space. As we’ve explored in other guides, warm tones and glows are highly desirable in the summer months.

This may not be too obvious given the fact that sunlight splashes across your garden across the day. However, think about what happens when the night pulls in! Days may be longer, but if you are entertaining at night after a specific time, you’re going to miss the sun. Therefore, it makes practical sense to try and replicate the sun’s glow as much as possible.

Spike lighting standards such as our fabulous outdoor ground adjustable spotlight in antique brass can add to this tone. This rich finish not only looks lovely in the daytime but helps to carry forward that evening glow at dusk. Antique brass is growing ever-popular with garden owners and designers – and why not?

Warm tones help to keep your garden feeling cosy even after sundown, too. You should ideally match those tones and finishes in your spike lighting fixtures with your bulbs, too. Warm LEDs in spike lights will help you angle and wash your darker spaces with sun-inspired illumination. That said, plenty of people prefer cooler shades, hues, and tones.

Regardless of your position on the matter, it’s a good idea to try and choose a temperature to stick to. A clutter of cool and warm lighting is not necessarily going to work well in practice. Therefore, consider the size of your space, how you intend to use it, and what it looks like on an average summer evening.

Stay Flexible – Create Focal Points

Of course, one of the key reasons for investing in outdoor lighting is to highlight touches and features. Once the sun’s down, it can get tricky to try and show off some of your favourite points. However, all it requires is to be a little more creative on the illumination.

For example, while many of us will head straight for wall lights, spike lighting can help a lot. As we’ve explored, Spike lighting is more than just a practical asset. The best spike lights are simple to angle and pivot. Therefore, you can freely use them to point out and highlight different areas of interest in your garden.

Consider the zones and areas of your outdoor space that you are most proud of. Do you have plants, flowers, or shrubs that deserve highlighting? What about a water feature or a piece of outdoor art? In the dark, these features can blend into the background.

Therefore, if you have designs on turning your outdoor entertaining space into a midnight gallery, consider spike lighting. Of course, you can also use wall lights and ceiling pendants across your outer garden perimeter and under pergolas. It’s perfectly reasonable to highlight focal points at every edge or corner of your garden!

However, always be careful not to overdo focal points—carefully chosen points of interest complement a gorgeous, natural display all on their own. Unless you have grand designs on transforming your garden into a feature space, plan.

The flexibility of spike lights means that you can also regularly change your focus points. For example, if you move features or change your mind from season to season, you can easily drag and adjust them. One of the clear selling points of spike lighting is that it moves with your needs and not the reverse.

Spike lighting is affordable and versatile for all kinds of focal point creation. Let your lights work around your highlighted zones – don’t necessarily build around the lights.

Conclusion

Spike lights and ground-based illumination isn’t everyone’s first choice. Choosing a permanent or hanging light fixture or two for the garden is often tempting. However, if you know you are likely to change things, opt for this flexible standard.

Spike lighting arrives in many different shapes, tones, and looks. Therefore, it may be worth looking at our broader catalogue to see what leaps out at you! With summer nights likely to inspire outdoor relaxation everywhere, now is the time to prepare.

Just because the sun shines for longer doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from a little outdoor illumination! Let spike lights lead the way.