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 We gardeners spend many hours working very hard to make our gardens a special place, but gardening in the rain this summer has definitely been a labour of love for most of us! As the nights start to draw in this does not necessarily mean that we have to hang up the trowel as darkness sets in.
The most popular use for garden lighting is probably for al fresco dining, but what about using low-voltage lighting to help the gardener continue working after dark? The night reveals a totally new dimension to your garden, the changing light levels give plants different colours with silver, grey and blue foliage taking on an almost irridescent hue. |
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| Also did you know that night time is the perfect time to do the weeding? University researchers in Oregon and Nebraska have discovered that cultivating at night could help to reduce the number of weeds you have to pull from your garden. |
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The researchers did a study on cultivating farm fields. They plowed some fields during the day and other fields during the night. Later on, when they compared the fields, the ones they plowed at night had fewer weeds in them.
 Although they did their research in farm fields, there's no reason why their findings won't carry over into domestic gardens. The reason for the extra weeds exists in both places. Cultivating churns the soil, it brings up hundreds of long-buried weed seeds to the soil surface then immediately reburies them.
For weeds that need light to germinate, the researchers say the few seconds exposure to sun is enough to start germination. Then if it rains or you water the garden after cultivating, the weed population explodes. Cultivating at night, stops the initial sunlight stimulus. And so, fewer weeds germinate. |
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Helpful Hints for Night-time gardening
- Water by night and you won't lose so much by evaporation or risk plants getting scorched
- Be considerate of your sleeping neighbours. The light of high wattage halogen bulbs can disturb up to six houses away. Use plenty of low-voltage lighting instead.
- Using power tools such as lawnmowers can be very dangerous at night, not to mention annoying to your neighbours.
- When considering a night-time planting scheme avoid plants that close at night, such as Californian poppy, pulsatilla, scarlet pimpernel and many chrysanthemums.
- Let your imagination run riot! A 24 hour garden can be very different at night from the during the day, use lighting, smoke machines and back-projection effects to bring a tough of the theatrical to the garden.
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