The Benefits of Well-Designed Landscape Lighting

Lights are magical. They welcome you home and they guide you. They brighten up our lives. A home landscape in which you put so much effort deserves to be showcased night and day. 

Imagine your favorite plants lit up at night. A tree in the autumn evening shedding its red leaves in front of your house. Or your pool lit up with ambient lights. Or the first buds of spring. Do you think they would be a wonder to look at? 

If you want to enjoy the visual aspects of your space, having lighting for your water features, pool, spa and plantings can really make them stand out. Not all properties are created equal and some features may work well for certain properties, but may not work well for others. 

We are ready to help you choose the best landscape lighting for your needs. Let this article be your guide to selecting lighting fixtures and outdoor lighting ideas that best accommodate your unique property. 

What Is Landscape Lighting?

Landscape lighting is a critical part of landscape design. It involves using illumination sources on public and private landscaping. Homes and businesses take advantage of landscape lighting, using it to make their landscapes safer, more accessible, and aesthetically pleasing in the evening. 

A landscape lighting plan is critical to keep in mind when considering illumination. 

Benefits of Home Landscape Lighting 

You’re thinking about installing landscape lighting, but you want to make sure it’s going to be worth your investment. These are some key benefits of outdoor lighting to consider. 

Boost Your Curb Appeal 

Installing landscape lighting will definitely help boost curb appeal and, in turn, improve property value. With the right outdoor lighting, you can quickly become the envy of the neighborhood with a home that exudes major curb appeal. 

When lighting a home with curb appeal in mind, we like to highlight the home’s architectural features. This includes lighting up arches, corbels, cornices, and other unique features of the home. These features take on an even more unique and appealing look with lighting shining on them at night. 

We also like to incorporate landscape lighting to highlight trees and shrubs.

Keep in mind that good landscape lighting is so much more than shining a spotlight on a tree or shrub. You want the design to be artistic and beautiful. One of the best benefits of landscape lighting is the aesthetic value that you’ll enjoy with your home lit so beautifully in the evening hours. 

Increase Functionality 

Another prime benefit of outdoor lighting is that it will increase the functionality of your property. With the right lighting, you’ll find that you are spending more time outside. The sun going down will no longer have to mean everyone moves inside. You’ll be able to see what you’re doing and safely get around your property, allowing you to spend more time outside. 

Enhance Safety and Security 

Two final key benefits of landscape lighting are safety and security. A well-lit home tends to be a more secure home. A well-lit home not only looks occupied (even when you’re not actually home) but it would also put a trespasser on display if they tried to enter your property. 

With the right outdoor lighting design, you can not only make your home more aesthetically pleasing in the evening hours, but you can also make it more secure. 

Along with that, a well-lit home is also safer. When people can see where they’re going in the evening hours, your property will be safer to navigate. That means decreasing the risk of trips and falls and other concerns. 

The Different Types of Outdoor Lighting for Your Property 

All outdoor lighting is not the same. In fact, there are different types of outdoor lighting that can be used to achieve different purposes. These are what we call “lighting applications.” 

There are four key lighting applications that people tend to be interested in:

• Architectural Lighting
• Landscaping Lighting
• Security Lights 
• Vacation Home Lighting

Let’s look at each. 

Landscape Lighting

As the name implies, landscape lighting is all about highlighting your property’s landscape features. This includes trees, shrubs, flowers, and more. You can really showcase your property’s unique landscape with some artistic lighting designs. 

Architectural Lighting

Architectural lighting is all about showcasing your home’s structural features. There are many aspects of your home that make it unique. The stone façade, the columns, or maybe even the trim work are features that can be highlighted to showcase your home in the evening hours. 

Security Lighting 

Another type of outdoor lighting is security lighting. As we’ve mentioned, a well-lit home is a more secure home. Your home should always feel safe. But if it’s dark or poorly lit during the nighttime hours, you might have some concerns. 

Vacation Home Lighting 

Finally, vacation home lighting is exactly what it sounds like…outdoor lighting for your vacation home. We know that many people with second homes desire the same amazing benefits of outdoor lighting that they enjoy at their primary residence. 

Landscape Lighting Areas: 9 Best Places to Light 

1. Pathway Lighting for Easier Walking

Seeing where to walk in the dark is easier when it isn’t, well, dark. Pathway lights can line and shine the right places to plant your feet. Your family and guests will have an easier time walking, and your plants won’t end up with a person crushing them.

2. Driveway Lighting for Smoother Driving

Same deal as with pathways, but with cars. Placing lights at the front of the driveway creates a welcoming first impression. Placing them at the end can help people see where they are walking when they get out of their car. Having them line the driveway can help people stay on the concrete too. 

3. Entrance Lighting Is Appealing & Polite 

Fun fact: People’s eyes go to the front door when they first see a house. 

Entrancers grab attention, so go ahead and make them shine at night. You can use wall sconces for a classical look or recessed lighting if you have a covering over your front door. 

It’s also nice to wait for the door to open under a light instead of in the dark. 

4. Natural Area Lighting Creates a Scene

Lighting natural areas can show off your garden work. You can also use your plants to make sublime and interesting lighting effects, like silhouettes. Natural areas tend to be darker, especially if they have bushes and trees in them, so lighting them brightens your yard. 

5. Wall Lighting Has Great Effects

For one, you can light the exterior walls of your home. This uplifting technique can make your walls come alive with textures and patterns you may not have seen before. Walls are also great areas to help make amazing lighting effects. 

You can also light any wall or fence you have encircling your property whether it’s wood, brick or other materials. Lighting your boundaries can create a peaceful moat of light around your home. However, make sure your lights don’t cause glare or shine into your neighbor’s house. 

6. Tree Lighting Can Go Up or Down

You can create a moonlit night in your yard every night, even without the moon! Placing lights to shine downwards from tall trees (25 feet or higher) can make it seem like moonlight is filtering through your trees. It’s great over patios and fire pits. 

You can also shine lights up into trees to create living columns of light. 

7. Hardscape Lighting for a Fun Night 

Patios, decks, and outside areas are fun places to be, so why not use them at night too? String lights running through the trees, a nice fire pit to sit around, maybe some moonlighting to create a natural glow. You can try out many different ways and lights when designing landscape lighting. 

8. Garden Structure Lighting to Sit Beneath 

You can run string lights through and around gazebos and pergolas or even have some hanging lights coming down from the ceiling. They can create a beautifully lit scene in your yard and be a fun place to gather under. 

9. Water Features 

Lighting can be around your water features or in them. Underwater LED lights work amazingly well, don’t cost a lot of money, and you can even have them programmed to change color on command. It’s the same for the above water lights. You can provide a great scene and let people know where the edges are. 

Types of Landscape Lighting Fixtures 

• Spotlights: These are directional lighting fixtures that can be used in a variety of different ways. They are also known as up-lights, down-lights, or floodlights. The most popular usage of these is to up light trees and shrubs.
• Path and Area Lights: Used to aim the light beam down. These lights can be stationed along a pathway to illuminate the way. Area lights are also aimed down to encompass an entire area of a landscape, like a whole planting bed for example. If you are looking for garden lighting ideas, this could work to light up your garden beds. 
• Flood Lights: These are most commonly used to increase security. These lights are similar to spotlights, but have a higher wattage and wider angle, really capturing a large space. Wall wash lights are a type of flood light that is used to illuminate across a large surface. The goal for wall wash lights is to illuminate the entire surface and not leave an oval shaped beam in one area. These are typically used on the exterior of a home or for architectural highlighting.
• String Lights: These lights are mostly decorative. Having string lights or bistro lighting can really enhance the ambiance of a particular space. Strung from trees, decks or posts, they can be hung anywhere and are easily customizable. They are also a great low budget item. 
• Bollard Lights: Typically, 30-36” tall, these cylindrical tube-shaped lights are best for driveways. 
• Step Lights: Step lights are generally mounted to the risers of steps, with the light beam illuminating each step in a row. These are great for safety. 
• Fountain Lighting: Many water feature fixture lights are actually underwater and really add to the magic of the feature. 

Landscape Lighting Techniques 

If you are looking for some landscape lighting ideas, these are the most popular:

• Uplighting:  This landscape lighting technique uses fixtures that light a tree from the ground upwards, showing off the trunk and foliage structure at the base. This technique can also be used to light up fences, statues, flags, structures, and other plantings. 
• Moonlighting: To create this technique, fixtures are placed high up above structures or in between tree foliage facing downward so that the space is illuminated with an interesting shadow from above.
• Silhouetting:  To create a silhouette, a soft light is placed behind planting materials. This is great for plantings with a defined leaf structure or growth habit. The wide band of clean light will have the planting in front of it in black. 
• Shadowing: The opposite of silhouetting, shadowing has light fixtures placed directly in front of a tree or statue so that the surface behind has dramatic shadows. This can be an intriguing technique when there are many layers and textures in the space. 

Enjoy a Smart Outdoor Lighting System

Today, landscape lighting has come incredibly far from a technology standpoint. Smart landscape lighting is all the rage, and for good reason! There have been some exciting advances as far as what is possible with landscape lighting. 

Wireless Control 

With Wi-Fi landscape lighting control, you can have your light controlled by an app on your smartphone. That means at the push of a button, you can make instant changes to your lighting setup. Often homeowners pre-program different lighting “schemes” that they prefer for different situations. 

For instance, you might have a lighting scheme that is set for a dinner party with brighter lighting so that everyone can see one another (and what they are eating).

But if you’re having a more intimate gathering, perhaps you just want a handful of lights to come on…and maybe you want them dimmed, particularly if you are going to be spending time by a fire fixture. 

With smart landscape lighting, you have precise control of your lighting. 

Color-Changing Systems

Color changing lights are another technological advance. Your light colors can be controlled by a smartphone. 

Imagine you’re having a party for the big game and you want to change your lighting design to feature the team colors. That can be set up easily on an app. Or maybe instead of going through the hassle of stringing lights for the holidays, you want to light up your property in red or green. That can be done too. 

You can have a lot of fun with color changing systems. 

The Biggest Landscape Lighting Mistakes to Avoid 

If outdoor lighting is so great, pile it on and don’t worry…it’ll look great, right? Not exactly. Not all outdoor lighting ideas are winners. Avoid these lighting mistakes. 

Solar Lights 

They seem like a good idea, right? Easy. Cheap. Powered by the sun. Why is solar outdoor lighting a mistake?

• The solar panels don’t last long, so you’ve wasted your money. 
• It’s wasteful to keep throwing your worn-out plastic fixtures into the landfill. The environment will thank you for going with hardwired lighting, and your home will look more high-end, too. 
• Thinking of it as a wise budget move? Maybe it used to be, but today’s LED lighting uses a small fraction of the energy older incandescent landscape lighting does. 

Too Much Outdoor Lighting 

If a few lights are good, lots of lights must be even better. Nope. 

It’s tempting to spotlight every tree, plant, column, and paver. But all that light will just wash out your yard. (Your neighbor squinting against the blinding glare won’t be thrilled either.)

Just light the special stuff. Draw attention to the majestic oak tree out front, your cool arched driveway, or that creative brickwork. 

Add landscape lighting to your standout features to help them, well, stand out. 

Forgetting Function 

Sure, landscape lighting should be pretty, but it should also be practical. It’s easy to get carried away with lighting your great new pergola, your precious oak, that stunning arched entryway, but landscape lighting should also help you and your visitors navigate entrances after dark. It should help you safely enjoy your deck, pool or patio. It should help keep you from tripping over whatever skateboard, rake, or dog toy somebody left on the driveway. 

Don’t forget to focus on function too. 

Should You Do Your Own Landscape Lighting Installation? 

If you’ve been thinking about landscape lighting at all, you’ve probably noticed that they make kits designed to DIY the whole thing yourself. 

But the instructions on the box will only take you so far. 

How do you figure out if you’re about to overload your transformer or breaker? 

Can you position the lights so they don’t cause annoying glare for your neighbors?

Is uplighting best for a certain spot? Or downlighting? 

Landscape lighting pros know about the big things, like planning the right color temperature and expert placement so your yard looks subtly stunning, not garish and overdone. 

While people might assume that an outdoor lighting job is simple to complete, there’s typically more know-how with outdoor electrical wiring than people tend to realize. It’s not uncommon for people to realize they’re in over their heads when tackling a DIY landscape lighting project. 

Your Home’s Potential with Landscape Lighting

Landscape lighting can be used in many different ways to enhance the look and feel of your home’s exterior. It can be used to create a more aesthetically pleasing atmosphere, add safety and security, or add some drama. 

No matter what type of home you have, there is definitely a place where landscape lighting can be used to improve its appearance. Get creative and start envisioning how you can use landscape lighting to transform your home’s exterior into something truly special.