9 Tips for Landscape Lighting Installation & Placement
Landscape lighting is the perfect way to make your yard stand out easily. It is a great way to highlight your outdoor space and its natural beauty while enhancing architecture and design elements. Here are some great tips for landscape lighting installation and placement to transform your yard.
1. Select the suitable space
Adding lighting is easy, but the challenging part is selecting the right area you want to highlight. The exact choice depends on the type of trees in your yard and how high you want to place your lighting. You can decide to light up the trees by putting the lights within the leaves or select a spotlight system highlighting the trees from below.
2. How much lighting do you need?
If you are considering landscape lighting, you will likely already know how much lighting you need in your yard. If not, you can ask a landscaping expert to help find out which trees would benefit most from good lighting. Remember that too much outdoor light can be distracting and create a haze.
3. See what type of trees you have
Different trees have different types of leaves, which you need to consider when selecting landscape lights. If the trees are sparse, it is better to opt for a dimmer light. The light should hit the trees in a way that illuminates them and shows them off instead of just passing right through and hitting a random spot in the yard.
4. Consider safety
While illuminating the trees can be a great way to make your yard appear brighter, remember that you also need to add a layer of security to your yard. If you use an area for sitting, consider putting downlights in the trees to avoid trips or falls when heading inside after dark. You can also put downlights in the trees that have motion sensors and allow you to see if anything is coming into your yard. This is great if you have wild animals coming into your yard.
5. Keep the lights hidden
Both downlights and uplights can be hidden but still give a good amount of illumination. Hidden lights are perfect for illuminating the trees without exposing the light fixture. However, remember to factor in any interference from people who might run into the lights while walking by.
6. Use colored lights to jazz it up
You can use a combination of soft-colored lights in some areas. For example, combining green and red can highlight your trees from different angles. Blue lights mixed with white or green lights can add a layer of lushness to your yard. There is no need to wait till the holiday season to add different colored lights.
7. Always test out the lighting system
Once you set up your lighting system, check how everything looks at nighttime. If you test the system during the day, you will never understand how certain angles look. Also, step away from your home and see how the lighting system looks from a distance. The best way to do this is to get in your car and drive by your home to see whether the focus is appealing or if any light looks unbalanced from a different angle.
8. Select your style
There are wired and solar lights available for landscape lighting systems. Most landscape experts prefer to go with wired lights as solar lights appear dimmer and do not have much spread. However, if you want to go the eco-friendly way, solar lights are much easier to install on your own, and you can screw or stake them into place without having to worry about running the wires to give a connection.
9. Have fun with the system
Most landscape lights you will see are usually yellow, or orange in tone, or some prefer to use pure white ones. However, selecting what color, style, and the overall look is totally up to you. You can opt for a color-changing LED basic lighting system or mix everything to add fun and funky lighting during the holidays. Go with what you like, and have fun setting up your landscape lights.