Best outdoor lighting 2020: 8 top buys to illuminate your garden

Our pick of the best outdoor lighting will transform your garden at night. From pretty fairy lights to permanent wall mounted garden lights, we have options for all garden styles and preferences. 

And right now, garden gatherings are going to be the best way to catch up with friends and family in a safe and socially distanced way – so you're going to want a way to keep your garden lit after the sun goes down. Choose from a range of practical outdoor lighting solutions that best suit your space.

Check out our garden ideas for all your garden planning, design and shopping needs. 

The best garden lighting you can buy right now

Truly the most versatile garden lighting option around, these Warm White Micro LED Fairy Lights are special for many reasons. Here are some of our favourite features:

Micro-sized bulbs

The lightbulbs are micro sized, which creates a really beautiful and subtle effect or a dazzling glow if you use multiple strings. 

Customisable

The bendy wire allows for total freedom of expression: tie them around your favourite garden tree, or bunch them up and display them in a jar. Especially, given the 10m cable lead, which gives you plenty to work with. 

Mains and battery powered

Plug them into the mains (the long cable will help with that), or you can run them off AA batteries. 

• Buy the Warm White Micro LED Fairy Lights

Philips Hue offer some of the best smart lighting around, and now the brains behind the operation have expanded to offer a wide variety of outdoor lights that can be controlled much like their indoor lights. Here's everything you need to know:

Control your smart outdoor lights from any location

Much like the rest of the Philips Hue smart lighting range, it's easy to control your outdoor lights via an app on your smartphone, or using voice commands if you're within range of your Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker.

This makes it super easy to control your outdoor lights from any location, which is great news if you want to give the impression that someone's home, even if they're not. Or, if you want your lights to turn on, automatically, when someone approaches your home.

Choose from a variety of light designs 

Besides offering a super practical smart lighting solution, Philips Hue outdoor lighting is also remarkably stylish. All products in the range – which includes wall lights, spotlights, pedestal lights and more – are available in black or silver finishes for an ultra modern look.

Proven to be weatherproof 

Rigorous testing has proven that Philips Hue's outdoor smart lights are capable of withstanding various forms of extreme weather. So, you won't have to worry about a good old British summer ruining them.

• Buy Philips Hue outdoor lights

These multi-purpose, Long Life Lamp Company Outdoor Garden Spike Lights are a great choice if you’re looking for a subtle security feature or a way to illuminate a garden path. Here's everything you need to know about them:

Mains powered

The fact that they're mains powered make them a much more reliable choice than solar power, and they’re capable of a much brighter output, too. 

Compatible with a variety of bulbs

They’re compatible with both LED and halogen bulbs, which is great if you have a preference for a particular bulb type.

Choose from a range of colours

With white, blue, green and red being just some of the colours available, there’s plenty of scope for you to make them the perfect decorative feature for your garden. 

• Buy the Long Life Lamp Company Outdoor Garden Spike Lights

If you’re looking to create a stylish outside area in which to wine and dine, this modern John Lewis Strom LED Outdoor Wall Light could be the perfect choice. Here's why we love it:

Choose from a variety of finishes

Available in copper, silver and black, these mains powered lights will provide your outside area with a warm, reliable light. 

Come with LED bulbs

Unlike our previous choice, this wall light comes with long-lasting LED bulbs, which can be dimmed to create your ideal ambiance.  

• Buy the John Lewis Strom LED Outdoor Wall Light

Taking inspiration from traditional nautical style, this David Hunt Admiral Wall Light combines the old with new ideas to create contemporary lighting that will look great on your outside wall. Here's everything you need to know:

Made in Britain

Designed in the UK and made in the Cotswolds, those passionate about investing in UK products will be pleased to know about the origins of this unique light. 

Stylish industrial feel

Blending textures, colours and materials, David Hunt has a range of nautical themed lighting, enabling you to create an exterior theme for your outside area. We think it makes a great option if you're into industrial style interiors, too.

• Buy the David Hunt Admiral Wall Light

If you’re looking to invest in garden lighting to place near windows and doors, you may want to look at low level lighting, which won’t filter inside and interrupt sleeping. These Nordlux Vejers Outdoor Wall Lanterns are a great example. Here's everything you need to know:

Minimal light pollution

While strong and sturdy, these wall lanterns have been designed to softly filter light downwards, rather than outwards, which means the light emitted is contained, rather than dispersed. 

Stylish design

Featuring anti-rust coating with a black stainless steel finish, these are traditional lights that will look great in almost any outside environment. 

Find more porch lights in our buyer's guide.

• Buy Nordlux Vejers Outdoor Wall Lanterns

These Argos Home festoon lights are a great option if you're looking for something a little more delicate. Here's everything you need to know:

Stylish design

These gorgeous garden lights have the beautiful shape of vintage tungsten lightbulbs, and look whimsical and delicate when put up in a tree or above your garden dining table on a string. 

Solar powered

Solar powered, they won’t cost you anything to run. And at just £20 for 20, these lights are incredibly cost effective, making them a great addition to your outside area.  

• Buy Argos Home festoon lights

Love having candles out in the garden, but are concerned about safety, or rainy weather? These good-looking, battery-powered LED candle lights from Lights4fun are for you. Here's everything you need to know:

Weather-resistant

Aside from being super stylish, these LED candles can also withstand any weather, with clever small holes at the top and bottom allowing rain water to drain instead of pooling inside them.

Flicker like a realistic candle

The amber LED lights flicker to create a realistic candlelit ambience, and the plastic used for the body is durable and smooth.

Set lighting schedules with ease

You can also set these lights on a six-hour timer, so you won't need to remember to switch them off when you go in. 

• Buy LED candle lights from Lights4fun

What are the best garden lights?

The most decorative garden lights are fairy lights, which can be woven intricately through trees, trellises, shrubs or bushes to create a subtle, atmospheric feel. In that instance, 100 Warm White Micro Solar Fairy Lights from Lights4fun are our top pick.

Looking for a smart solution? Think Philips Hue outdoor lights. Read on for information on all these buys. Our other favourite garden lighting retailers and buys include:

How to buy the best garden lights

When it comes to how to buy the best garden lights, there are a few factors worth considering if you want to ensure you're spending your money on the best option to suit your requirements. These include: 

Function

Before you choose garden lighting, you'll want to think carefully about the function you'd like it to serve. Practical, aesthetic, or both?

Wall lights are the perfect example of a practical yet decorative garden lighting, and they’re a warmer alternative to harsh floodlights which are probably a bit too intrusive if you’re planning on having friends round for an evening BBQ. Outdoor wall lights exist in all shapes and sizes, providing an opportunity for style aficionados to indulge their keen eye in their garden, as well as their interior decor.

Those who are tired of tripping over the edges of their garden path may want to consider floor lights. Floor lights are often solar powered, so they’ll be ready and waiting to guide you safely down the middle of your path every time you return home in the dark.

Power

As we’ve already suggested, garden lighting is, more often than not, solar powered, which means it involves absolutely no running costs. That being said, it relies on the sun’s power for their charge, so you may find that the light begins to dim fairly early into the night if the day has been particularly dull. Alternatively, you can purchase mains powered lights. These are often more powerful and are a more reliable addition, especially if you plan to be hosting late evenings in your garden during the summer. 

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Looking for more garden advice and inspiration?

• Best outdoor flood lights: 5 security lights for your garden
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