Stephen M. Henning8/4/04 8:41

Sacha wrote:

Look, I'm really sorry to rain on anyone's parade but perhaps you might ask
yourselves if you really *want* garden lighting? Why? What will you do with
it? Will you actually sit at the window and turn off the telly and look out
at our night-illuminated garden?

Apparently you aren't familiar with the tradition of barbecue (bar-BQ).
It is where you cook outdoors on a grill (charcoal or propane) and eat
outdoors. If the host has a nice garden, the bar-BQ may be held in or
next to the garden. If the function lasts after sundown, outdoor
lighting is needed. Frequently it includes tiki torches with citronella
laced fuel to keep the insects down.

Ah. Now this may be because me and mine have a mutual view on barbecues -
poor food, badly cooked, for the most part. We prefer to cook the food
indoors, carry it into the garden and sit there as the daylight fades,
watching the stars 'come out' and the bats flying around, listening to the
Little Owls calling etc. You don't get a lot of that with artificial
garden lighting..... OTOH, each to their own which is why my original post
did say something about entertaining on a deck or terrace and understanding
that lighting might be needed for that. I am querying whether individual
trees and shrubs, bits of the garden, etc. need to be lit up at night, every
night, for, what - exactly .........?
How many people that do this turn off the lights inside their houses and sit
at a window, gazing out into their spasmodically illuminated garden?
Try letting gardens be lit by moonlight is my suggestion and if there's no
moon, wait for the next one. Just another pov.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)