Garden lighting is a divisive subject, and James and Joe are owning the controversy this week. From the "feral" beauty of a well-lit tree to the absolute horror of bright, cold security lights that turn your backyard into an office complex at midnight, we’re ripping up the rulebook on how to light your space effectively.

We discuss the delicate balance of creating drama through light and shadow, the importance of "warm white" over harsh blue LEDs, and why James thinks the future of garden lighting is actually… solar-powered path lights that make your garden look like a runway. Plus, we dive into the circadian rhythms of local blackbirds, the perils of "carefully" sexing hedgehogs, and why you should never, ever light a tree at 3:00 AM.

This episode is sponsored by Kress, leaders in robotic lawnmowing and battery landscaping tools. Learn more here: https://www.kress.com/en-gb/

About our hosts

James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022. He is the RHS Ambassador for Garden Design and a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers.

Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV’s Gardeners’ World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.

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