By Sally Gregson.

At this dark time of the year, it is a natural human instinct to value light and the faint winter sunshine.
It’s the Festival of Light on 13 December. Traditionally in Scandinavian countries the oldest girl in a family puts on a white dress with a red waistband, and is crowned with a circlet of candles on her head. She carries a tray of ‘lussekatter’ or saffron buns around the house and sings carols. It’s a tradition that is still practised today.

Here in the UK we love to light candles and hang lights around the house as well as on the Christmas tree.
In the garden increasingly it is becoming popular to string lights around the trees and along the edge of a terrace.
Solar lights are perhaps the most trouble-free and economical, but if you can provide a secure outside power source there are many more forms of lighting to choose from. There are companies that make beautiful strings of solar lights for the trees and baubles to hang on stakes through the borders. They look very good edging a path to the front door.
Lighting up an eye-catching tree at a focal point in the garden makes quite an impact when seen from the house. It is important to position these long strings so that they follow the shape of the tree.

Hanging them haphazardly looks just that once the sun has gone down. So, try positioning the strings just as it gets dark in the evening, and adjust the odd, wayward light after dark when you can see the shape more clearly.
And don’t be too mean with the lights. In this case more is certainly better.
An element of mystery can soon be contrived by lighting up a dark corner of the shrubbery that is just visible from the house with shimmering solar lights.
In seaside towns in winter there are whole ‘fairy villages’ along the roadside and in parks, that are designed to entice visitors into the park after dark. Children love the mystery of little secret glens and clearings. It fires their imaginations and brings magic to the season.