An outdoor light is only as steady as the thing it stands on. Garden light mounts are the hidden parts that hold a bollard upright in the lawn, put a wall light round the corner of the house or let a post-top lantern sit on a pole it was not originally made for. This section gathers ground spikes, concrete anchors, mounting adapters, pole reducers, corner brackets and wall spacers for outdoor luminaires.
| Situation | Usual solution |
|---|---|
| Spotlight or small lamp in a flower bed | Ground spike |
| Bollard or path light along a drive or paving | Concrete or ground anchor set in a footing |
| Lamp post or park light | Anchor plus the adapter specified for that luminaire |
| Post-top lantern on an existing pole | Pole adapter or reducer matched to both diameters |
| Wall light on a corner of the house | Corner bracket |
Mounts are often made for named luminaire families, and the fixing plate, bolt spacing and tube diameter are designed around them. Check the compatibility list on the mount’s product page against the model of your lamp, and for pole adapters check both diameters: the spigot the lamp slides onto and the pole underneath. Finishes are usually given as RAL colours, such as black 9005, graphite 7016 or silver-grey 9006, so you can match the lamp exactly; hot-dip galvanised parts stay bare metal.
Before digging, check for buried pipes and cables. A typical footing for a bollard is a hole about 40 cm deep and 30–40 cm across, filled with concrete around the anchor so its top plate sits level with the finished paving or turf. Loose or sandy soil calls for a larger footing. The supply cable usually runs to the anchor in a protective duct, buried around 50 cm deep and led into the anchor. Let the concrete cure before bolting the lamp on. Any mains connection outdoors must be made by a qualified electrician using cable rated for burial.
Hot-dip galvanised steel is coated in zinc inside and out, which is why it suits parts that sit in wet soil or concrete. Powder-coated brackets need only a wipe; touch up any chip in the paint before winter so rust does not creep under the coating. Every spring, check that spikes have not tilted after frost and that bolts on anchors and pole adapters are still tight.
For a garden bollard, around 40 cm is common, but follow the depth given in the anchor’s instructions: tall park lights and posts need deeper footings, often with a quarter to a third of the pole in the ground.
A spike is quick and movable but can lean in soft soil. A concrete anchor takes more work once and then holds the light firmly, which matters for anything that people might brush against.
To place a wall light on the external corner of a building, where it can light two sides at once, for example a drive and a side path.
Choose the light itself among bollard lights and outdoor wall lights.
