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From that second cup of coffee in the morning on the screened-in back porch that overlooks our water garden, to those peaceful, quiet moments before bedtime, our garden is "priceless!" And it's grown more valuable as we have learned to appreciate all of its intricacies and possibilities through spring, summer, and fall.
Like many of our fellow water gardeners, we started by digging a whole in the ground -- in our case, two. Then we added some plants, some fish, and a fountain to the two preformed tubs and the rock waterfall, then a few white figurines of children at play and a big green frog; all very nice, during the day. Although we enjoyed the sound of running water during the evening hours, we were still missing something as we sat in our ivy-covered, fenced-in backyard or viewed the entire garden from our screened-in porch. We added lights to the sidewalk that leads to the back porch and only dreamed what the garden might look like with additional lights in all the right places.
Ron, who is an electrician by trade, started searching for lights with the appropriate wattages to place around the pond. They lit up the waterfall and the pond all right, with the glaring blast of floodlights. Green plants were burned out with white light and the little signs, like "Dad's Garden" and "Time began in a garden" were unrecognizable. And how were we to light the whimsical features, such as the big green frog and the alabaster white children, at the same time?
The answer to our dilemma was right in front of our eyes. Our son, Ryan, who is a senior theatre design major at Iowa State University, came to our rescue. His experience with lighting designs in the theatre could easily be applied to our garden. He suggested using gobos to break the glare and provide patterns and direction, and colored gels to add subtle interest to solid areas of plants, including the Boston ivy fence. He placed softly diffused lights under hostas and in the base of tree branches to reflect the soft and delicate shapes of the leaves and branches. By that time, we had added two other water features, a little girl "watering" flowers with her watering can in the rose garden, and an old farm pump at the opposite end of the garden that, in combination with the waterfall in the pond, provided stereophonic sounds. So, of course, we had to subtly light those too, if we were going to fully enjoy our landscape investments. All of this in time for the Central Iowa Water Garden Tour, (we were #13 on the Boone-Ames leg) where we opened up our garden gate from 8 o'clock in the morning until after 10 o'clock at night to visitors who were excited about the gardens and curious about the wonderful lighting.
We've always enjoyed our evenings in our backyard (and on the back porch when the mosquitoes decide to join us too). Now we enjoy everything in the garden even more. The gardens are alive, dramatic, and beautiful at night as well as in the daytime. With our night garden so entertaining to the eyes as well as the ears, we certainly watch much less TV. And that is good for increased conversation, whether we are relaxing alone or entertaining family and friends.
Since we both commute (one of us doesn't get home until 6:30 p.m.), landscape and water garden lighting has added 3 to 4 extra hours an evening to enjoy the garden. That's 20 to 30 hours more a week that we can get pleasure from our new, extended living space.
Ryan started gathering outdoor fixture lighting catalogues. Now we drool over them as we imagine adding lights over our hanging baskets, down-lighting on the ivy fence, and maybe that beautiful double tulip light where two sidewalks join in a V-shape. And when we fence in the rest of the backyard, and build yet another water feature… well, you water gardeners know the story all too well. We've added a whole new perspective to our garden nightlife. Ryan has become so interested in landscape lighting, he's decided to apply his knowledge and skills to helping others, starting with his fiancée's parents' new water garden. At the August CIWGA meeting, he handed out business cards for his new business: The Light Perspective. His philosophy, he explains, is that through his designs, a garden at night can become more intimate, alluring and dynamic for anyone, from a young family, to an older family, or empty nesters like us. Whether they are large yards or small yards, whether intimacy or expansiveness is desired, whether lighting is needed for relaxing or for entertaining -- or both -- depending on the night, there is a more appropriate way to light your garden.
We're pretty proud of our well-lit gardens, and our entrepreneurial son, for he knows how to light up our life!
(To visit our garden in the evening or to respond to this article, email Shirley.Walrod@dmu.edu, or call 515-432-5331.)
More pictures from the Walrod's garden can be found in Guppy's Gallery.
Be sure to attend the next CIWGA meeting, October 14, for a chance to win a free landscape and water garden lighting consultation and design by Ryan Walrod of The Light Perspective, Ames. Ryan will visit with you to learn more about your perspective on lighting needs and preferences to fit your family's lifestyle. Then he will customize a design to enhance the most dynamic features of your garden and suggest appropriate lighting fixtures, dramatic lighting techniques, and colors to set the mood and increase the ambience of your garden. This consultation and design package is a $200 value. Fixtures, if desired, and installation are additional. For more information, you may contact Ryan at 450-1868.