Shedding light

An effective lighting scheme is one that does not attempt to recreate daytime, but evokes a different mood or atmosphere for the night.

This was the aim of landscape lighting and garden designer Jenny Pullar when designing the entrance garden for this colonial-style home. Rather than directly illuminating the footpaths and stairs that lead to the home, Pullar has carefully placed just five lights among the trees and plants.

"I position lights to focus on the special features of a garden. There is no need to illuminate dirt or concrete, as the light from well-positioned lamps will reflect into these areas," she says.

The garden bed along the wall is illuminated by one pole light, which lights the length of the bed, giving a more natural look than that obtained from an uplight. Three other lamps are positioned around the base of the trees, where they are hidden in daylight hours by Iris japonica plants.

Through the use of green filters, Pullar has accentuated the lushness of the greenery.

"A usual halogen light has a yellowish tinge, which will highlight the dead leaves and brown parts of a plant. Green is soothing to the eye," she says.

Pullar is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) of Australia and New Zealand. The aim of the organisation is to advance the art and science of illumination, and to provide information to interested parties.

IES members include engineers, architects, educators, students, contractors, manufacturers and designers. There are many benefits to membership, including being able to attend seminars, contribute to research, enter competitions, and being kept up-to-date with any lighting-related developments.

For more information contact Jenny Pullar, phone (09) 820-3520, mobile 021 399 932. For details on IES: The Lighting Society, visit the website: www.iesanz.org.

Story by: Trendsideas