So we’ve decided to totally and utterly obliterate our old weedy garden and start from scratch. It’s cleared now and over the next few weeks we’re going to replant it.
Last week we laid two patios; one a second hand rondal which is to be covered in gravel, the other a small sun patio for the evenings when the bottom of the garden goes into shade.
We have kept the shrubs which are healthy though as we aren’t really going to have any grass as such – it’s going to be all low shrubs and perennials including a fern area for me since I love ferns.
Yesterday I put in the first lighting. Two of four bollards, both concreted and on drilled slabs to ensure they look tidy. Getting them vertical was not easy as the slabs are textured but I managed it.
I hate floodlights but I love to see low level lighting which is well designed and doesn’t light up the whole world. These are downward reflecting bollards which have a really good rating for efficiency when it comes to not sending light up into the sky. Over 99% of emitted light useful.
As an extra bonus I’ve put smart bulbs in them so we can dim them and change the colour of the lighting as required. This makes them really useful as we can mood light the garden.
They’re all on sunset timers and they turn off late at night, but like the rest of our stuff there are linking actions through Smartthings so if it senses movement on the camera it turns them on low for 10 minutes before fading then back down.
The other wire is for a socket on a post. This time we are determined to do it right and have some power on each of the two patio areas.