When landscaping a front or back yard, a lot of people do not think about how their garden is going to look at night and so don’t even think to include lighting in their plan. The reality of the situation is that your newly landscaped yard can look just as good at night as it can during the day, as long as you have installed the best lighting solutions. These tips are designed to help you do just that.
Pre-Planning Lighting Tips
What would you like your landscape lighting to actually do? Do you want to illuminate steps and pathways so that people can see their way around at night (for safety) or do you want to create a specific mood or feeling in your garden at night?
If you are going for a particular mood in your landscape, determine what exactly this is – dramatic or relaxed are common.
On a clear and moonless night, take a torch and walk around your garden to test out any lighting ideas that you may have.
Landscape Lighting Tips
For illuminating steps and pathways, use low-wattage bulbs and place them close enough together that the pools of light they produce overlap.
Create dramatic shadows on the walls of your house or your fence by placing lighting in front of trees or other features in your landscaped yard, such as sculptures or even water features.
To highlight interesting or overly attractive plants and features, accent lighting can be placed underneath trees or at the base of a wall.
For an imitation of moonlight, place spotlights in tree branches that are angled downwards (like you would with down lighting).
Additional Lighting Tips
The best time to install lighting is during the landscaping process, as it can actually work out to be more expensive to have wiring done on a finished yard.
Don’t have too many focal points in your garden – you don’t want your various forms of lighting to start competing with each other.
Try to use low-voltage lighting wherever possible in your landscaping project, as these are much safer to have around children and pets.
If you often get bored with the look of your landscape, look for fixtures that have rotating heads. This way, you will be able to alter the direction of the illumination to create new and interesting effects.
Check whether you will need a permit of some kind before beginning any electrical work in your garden.
Whilst landscape lighting can be a great addition to your front or back yard, you need to ensure that you are choosing the right fixtures and features to illuminate, otherwise you will risk turning your garden into a disaster. There are plenty of landscape and outdoor lighting solutions available, so just take your pick for the best kind.