Garden design is the art of creating beautiful landscapes for your outdoor retreat. Alluring garden design can be accomplished with the help of professionals or even by talented garden owners themselves. Thankfully with today's advanced technology, it's easy and affordable to illuminate your growing garden. Whether you have a quaint patio garden or a couple acre plots, you can find decorative and fun garden lighting that will enhance the beauty of any sized space.

One of the more unique and visually-pleasing lighting techniques in decorative garden lighting is the use of fiber optics. Fiber optics is the science of transmitting light via optical fibers. Optical fibers are extruded cylinders of plastic or glass used to transmit light. All that is required to illuminate the optic fibers is a single light bulb; making fiber optic lighting an affordable garden lighting choice. Another great advantage of fiber optic lighting is that it uses no electrical current; therefore it is safe to place in and around water without danger of electrocution. Therefore, fiber optic lighting can be used to illuminate a garden pond, tree trunks and branches, shrubs, plant containers and even a patio deck.

Another fun idea to add to your outdoor oasis is solar-powered fiber optic gazing balls. These unique ornaments add loveliness to your garden at night and even in the day. The solar collector gathers energy during the day to power the fiber optics in the gazing ball at night. At dusk, the fiber optics illuminates the gazing ball and adds instant ambiance to any garden. These typically will remain running for 4-6 hours a night.

Another simple and fun idea to add to your garden lighting is sting lights. String lights that use fiber optic lighting can be added to decks or used to decorate trees, shrubs and plants. A variety of adorable styles are available including butterflies, toads, flowers and dragonflies. These delicate lights add subtle lighting to drab areas while also adding attractive decor.

Solar garden lighting is another cost-effective way to bring light to your flowering garden. Solar lights use a single battery composed of Nicam (nickel and cadmium) which is charged throughout the day by sunlight. At dusk, solar garden lights automatically turn on and at dawn, they automatically turn off. Again, solar garden lighting is available in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Colorful stings of lanterns, butterflies, stars, hummingbirds, and many other shapes can be found easily. Also solar statues, stakes, rocks and poles can be used to illuminate garden pathways.

With so many options available today it’s simple and easy to transform your beautiful garden into an enjoyable place to spend your evenings. Under twinkling lights and magical glowing shapes it will be hard to decipher between actual stars and fireflies from the beautiful luminous additions in your glowing garden.