Here's the latest post from our guest blogger, Helen Yoest.

Winter was never my season. For the most part, this is due to the lack of sun the short days provide. After work, when I have the time to be in the garden, the ambient light is not enough to allow me to navigate the paths or to admire the trees and shrubs. In the past, memory helped me to navigate the paths so I could empty the trash, but without night-lighting, it was only a utilitarian task.

Today even the must mundane time outdoors in the evening is enchanting and romantic.  As the sun goes down, the garden is transformed into a magical place, completely altered by the play of light. It casts silhouettes of trees and shrubs, and statuary, as well as serving as a beacon off in the distance for travel or to allow for an appreciation from afar. Adding layers of subtle lighting gives your garden charm, mystique, and the ability for you to enjoy the garden at night.

Lighting outside should be approached in much the same way as interior lighting.  Inside your home, stark, overhead light can be cold and harsh.  Floor and table lamps soften a room’s glow, creating a welcoming place.  The same is true with lighting outdoors.

I installed night-lighting several years ago and now I'm able to enjoy my garden when the daylight dims before dinner. Good lighting is three-dimensional, giving the garden depth and drama.  The focus should not on the fixtures, but on the effects, complementing nature, not competing with it.

Up-lighting highlights beautifully formed plantings such as a specimen tree or shrub.  Airy plants, such as a Japanese maples, are good candidates for up-lighting so that the glow highlights their interesting forms and patterns.

Down-lighting creates a pool of light to highlight a play or dining area, a favorite bench, or garden accent.

Layers of light add even more value to path and focal lights.  Just like in your home’s interior, adding differing levels of light with fire and candlelight, adding white string lights gives the garden even more depth. Add lights to arbors, gazebos, sheds, and vines, to give your garden more dimension.  Lanterns made of grapevine balls wrapped in lights can be hung in the trees or wrap the tree trunk and a few branches with lights to give shape to a tree otherwise dark in the evening.

Looking outside from the warmth of my house, night-lighting allows me to extend the view from the kitchen sink, my favorite chair in the den, or even the dining room. Dining in candlelight, with the ability to look out into the garden and see lighting beyond, is the one of my favorite things.

Energy-wise solar powered lights are a snap to install and the technology has improved a lot over the years.  These can work particularly well with path lighting.  I started out with solar lights to see how well I would like night-lighting.  I liked them so much, I decided to make the investment in a higher quality, permanent solution.  In doing so, I turned to a professional contractor to put my garden and home in the best light.

This winter, as the weather turns forbidding, watching the snowflakes or raindrops drifting through a beam of light will allow me to be in the garden even though it’s only from the living room chair.

Helen Yoest, owner of Gardening With Confidence, is working on her first book to be released later this year. Catch up with Helen at her blog at www.gardeningwithconfidence.com.