Landscape Lighting Tips: Do's and Don'ts

Brightening your landscapes gives your outdoor areas a safe, welcoming, and compelling appearance. But not every light works in every area. Here are some dos and don’ts when it comes to choosing and placing your landscape lights:

Don’t illuminate only the walkways and trees. If you brighten only the walkways, it leaves the rest of your landscape in darkness. It also leaves the pathways feeling isolated from the rest of the landscape. Brightening areas like garden beds and trees can help to eliminate this issue.

Don’t light pathways and stairways with the same light fixtures. Pathways can use upright or standing fixtures, also called pathway lighting, or bullet spotlights to brighten the area around them. However, these same lights will create shadows on staircases. Instead, use step lights designed for use with stairs. They recess into the stairs or wall while enhancing safety and providing stylish light.

Don’t use only solar lights. If there is no sunlight, then solar lights won’t have much power which can turn all the hard work it took to install them into a waste of time. But that doesn’t mean solar lights are a mistake! Adding solar lights is a great way to provide energy efficient lighting without having to connect to the electrical grid. Additionally, some solar lights may come with a reserve battery to store excess power on days when there is little sunlight. Solar lights are also the most environmentally conscious lighting option.

Don’t use only one type of light. Relying on one type of light fixture means some fixtures won’t supply the right type of lighting for certain aspects of the landscape. Additionally, varying the lighting type and beam angle creates nuance and depth in the landscape.

Do: use LED lighting. LED lights are extremely energy efficient. Because they use a lower wattage than traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs, they save energy. Additionally, LEDs are extremely long-lasting. Certain LED landscape lights, like this bullet spotlight, can have a rated life as long as 100,000 hours. If they’re used for eight hours a day for seven days a week, that means they can last up to 34 years!

Do: highlight important aspects of your landscape. This can be things like statues, pieces of artwork, or stately trees, shrubs, and other characteristics. This gives your space character and draws attention where needed. You can also use accent lights to highlight statues or smaller plants.

Do: use warm color temperatures. Warm color temperatures, like those between 2700K-3500K, provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere. They also appear more natural. Cool color temperature can appear too cold and clinical. They can also seem manufactured. Cool color temperatures, like those from 5000K-6500K, work well for security lighting instead.

Do: consider the shadows. This can mean considering the potential shadows cast by the light fixtures as well as creating atmosphere using shadows. This is known as silhouetting. Silhouetting a tree against a backdrop like a fence or the side of the home can add depth to an otherwise flat surface. You should consider potential shadows cast by light fixtures as well. Shadows can add character, like when silhouetting, or create pools of shadow which don’t fit with the landscape you’re aiming for. In some cases, like on stairs, it can also make the area more dangerous.

When it comes to landscape lighting, it doesn’t have to be difficult! Follow these easy steps to achieve quality lighting in your garden and landscape areas.