Lighting Your Water Garden
Lighting in your water garden can
provide a dramatic effect day or night.
Make sure that the lighting designates for underwater or outdoor
usage. Always use a GFCI (ground fault
circuit interrupter) outlet when connecting any lighting in or around your
water garden. A GFCI outlet will shut
off immediately if there is an outlet overload.
Low voltage lighting is available in a kit and comes with complete
instructions for easy installation. Low
voltage underwater lighting is normally 20 watt bulbs and garden light bulbs
are between 10 and 12 watts.
A good way to test how you would like to set up your illumination
is to take a flashlight or spotlight and move it around to different areas of
your water garden to see what kind of effect it gives off. The illumination at night will seem more
intense. To avoid a glare effect, do
not shine your lighting directly onto the water. To create a dazzling effect, try positioning your lights
around your focal point, such as a waterfall, fountain, or a statue. If you are using underwater lighting try
aiming the light in the same direction of the water’s motion to enhance the
feature. The underwater or submerged
lighting can draw attention to features around the pool or provide a dramatic
effect when placed underneath fountains or waterfalls. Around pathways or within foliage, position
the bulbs so that they are hidden from view.
To cut down on maintenance, you can purchase lighting
with built in timers. These timers will automatically turn the lighting on and off for you at the time that you desire.
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