At Carolina Outdoor Lighting Professionals, Inc., lighting is all we do. We can turn “nighttime darkness into evening elegance” through our expertise in achieving the perfect beauty in your evening by installing landscape lighting. In this article, we explore different types of lighting for your yard that emphasize illuminating pathways to your home, including trees, garden, deck or patio, and your overall landscaping.
Why Outdoor Lighting is Essential for Landscaping
If you want to create a truly beautiful property as it is seen at night, you must incorporate outdoor lighting. Outdoor lighting is crucial for aesthetics because it enhances a property’s visual appeal after the sun sets. Outdoor lighting most certainly creates both a safer and more visually pleasing property.
Outdoor lighting has many benefits including:
- Improves safety and security
- Creates aesthetically pleasing areas that highlight landscaping elements
- Provides a welcoming ambiance
- Allows you to enjoy your outdoor space after dark
- Improves curb appeal and the overall aesthetic value of your home and property
Outdoor Lighting and Aesthetics
A primary reason for lighting your property is the ability to create an aesthetically pleasing environment at night. The strategic placement of lights draws attention to attractive elements like trees, gardens, water features, and unique architectural details on your home so they are visible and stand out at night.
Additionally, outdoor landscaping lighting has these benefits:
- Creating ambiance: Proper lighting can set a desired mood, whether it is a warm and inviting atmosphere for gatherings on an outdoor area like a deck or patio or a more serene, tranquil setting in a backyard.
- Illuminating pathways: Lighting walkways and steps not only improves safety but also adds visual interest by guiding guests through your outdoor space.
- Elevating curb appeal: Entrances and front yards that are well-lit create a positive first impression for visitors, enhancing the overall aesthetic of your property.
- Enhancing the landscape: Accentuating landscaping features like plants, flowers, and sculptures with targeted lighting can transform your outdoor space after sunset.
Types of Outdoor Lighting for Landscaping
This section discusses seven types of landscape lights that are well suited to lighting any outdoor space.
1. Spotlights
A spotlight points light in a specific direction and becomes a certain type of light when used in a certain way. For instance, when a spotlight is pointed upwards at a wall, it becomes an uplight with a wall grazing effect. But, when used to emphasize an ornamental structure like a statue or water fountain, it functions as a typical spotlight.
2. Flood Lights
Flood lights are the best choice for brightening a large area and creating more visibility with a range of wide coverage. Flood lights are typically used when driveways need to be illuminated from above.
3. Up/Downlights
Up/downlights offer a wide range of uses and are one of the best choices in designing the lighting in your yard. Uplights create patterns on walls, illuminate the beauty of trees, and generally beautify your yard while downlights cast shadows and create moonlight effects.
4. Step Lights
If you have steps that can be hazardous in the dark, step lights are the solution. Step lights are small, low-profile lights that illuminate stairs or steps to improve safety and create a warm atmosphere.
5. Garden Lights
Garden lights come in a variety of shapes, heights, and styles. Placing them in natural areas shows off your plants. The light goes downwards and slightly out so people aren’t blinded and have visibility. This is achieved by a cover over the top of the light bulb.
6. Bollard Lights
Bollard lights are posts with lights on the top. There is no light shield or cover so they shine in every direction. These lights are frequently used to light walkways.
7. String Lights
String lights, also called bistro lighting or fairy lights, create a fun, magical atmosphere with subtle lighting through trees and over hardscapes.
Lighting Techniques to Highlight Trees and Garden Features
With so many options from which to choose, you may need help deciding what type of light is right for what you are trying to accomplish. A professional lighting company like ours, Carolina Outdoor Lighting, can provide expert advice from knowledge and experience.
Uplighting
Uplights are often used as accent lights and are perfect for features that you want to highlight like walls and trees. These lights shine up to a focal point, which can add dramatic and enchanting effects to the structure.
Downlighting
Downlights are placed above the area you want to highlight and shine down from. These are used to brighten an entire area of your yard rather than a specific feature. They improve the visibility of your yard. They can also be used as moonlighting. Moonlighting is when a light is placed in a tree and creates shadows from some of the branches and leaves. It replicates natural moonlight and adds dimension to your yard.
Silhouetting
Silhouetting with landscape lights is a lighting technique that positions light behind a plant, tree, or other feature, casting a dark outline (silhouette) against a brighter background like a wall or fence. This highlights the shape and texture of the feature instead of its details. It accentuates the form of a landscape element by using backlighting to create a shadow effect.
Grazing
Grazing is a landscape lighting technique that involves placing lights close to a surface at a narrow angle to highlight its texture and architectural details. This is a great way to showcase masonry work. The light creates shadows and highlights that accentuate the surface’s texture and details.
Shadowing
Shadowing in landscape lighting is a technique where a light is positioned in front of an object, such as a tree, sculpture, birdbath, or water fountain, casting a dramatic shadow of the object onto a wall or background.
Choosing the Right Fixtures for Different Garden Elements
When choosing the right fixtures for different garden elements, consider the purpose of the lighting, the desired aesthetic, the plant type, and the level of brightness needed. Whether the lighting is for a pathway, accent, or visibility needs to be part of the consideration.
Here are some garden elements and suitable lighting fixtures for your residential landscape lighting:
Trees
Lighting up trees in your yard is a common practice that provides a huge “bang for the buck.” Use uplights positioned at the base of the tree to illuminate their canopy.
Depending on the size and shape of the tree, and the desired effect, these are general guidelines. Small trees need uplights at ground level, aiming the lights toward the trunk and lower branches. Large trees can use a combination of accent lights with different angles. Narrow trees need a light source that is a 36-degree angle, while a tree that has a medium spread needs lights with a 60-degree beam angle.
Flower Beds and Shrubs
Flower beds and shrubs need a different type of landscape lighting compared to trees. Generally, shrubs need lighting that shines in front of the shrub and this works well also for areas that have flowers and low plants. Small stake lights are a great option for gardens and flower beds. These lights are usually powered by the sun. They come on at dusk and provide subtle light around your flowers. Stake lights also assist walkers to stay off the garden by offering better visibility.
Water Features
Water features such as fountains, ponds, and waterfalls create unique opportunities for lighting. Enjoying these features as the sun sets requires artful landscape lighting. Here are some ideas for backyard lighting your water feature.
White pond lighting: If you have a white pond or koi pond, incorporating LED lights underwater gives a unique glow.
Waterfall: Placing a waterfall light behind a cascade of water highlights the delightful nature of the falling water.
Fountains: Adding a small spotlight to showcase a fountain is a way to create a special glow when lit up at night.
Garden Sculptures or Statues
The decision of what type of lighting to use for garden sculptures or statues depends on the type of light, the placement of the light, and the way you want to highlight the item. If you have a human statue, you might highlight the features that make it human such as the face, the hands, or the body. For animal sculptures, highlight the craftsmanship.
You might choose any of the following types of landscape lighting:
Floodlights: These are good for illuminating large objects uniformly with a wide distribution of light. This would be useful to create a wide expanse of light on and around the sculpture or statue.
Downlights: A downlight will create a spotlight effect without a harsh beam of light.
Uplights: Use uplights to cast a warm glow on a statue from the ground, creating shadows on the statue itself.
Lighting placement: Consider placing fixtures so that there is no glare if the feature can be viewed from all directions.
Trellises and Arbors
Trellises and arbors can be highlighted with several lighting approaches such as uplighting, spotlights, and string lights. String lights seem to be the most popular at the moment. Trellises, arbors, and pergolas are perfect places to place outdoor string lights so as to add magic to your garden. Some patio lighting ideas include wrapping string lights around tree trunks, deck railings, and trellises for unexpected focal points.
Contact Carolina Outdoor Lighting Professionals for Expert Advice and Installation
If you want to be able to enjoy a beautiful ambiance through landscape lighting and have a yard with greater curb appeal, call us for advice and lighting installation.
To learn more about our lighting services or to schedule a no-obligation, free evening demonstration and consultation in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Apex, Cary, Clayton, Morrisville, Pittsboro, Fuquay-Varina, Knightdale, Zebulon, and the surrounding Triangle areas.
Please reach out to us today at (919) 523-0561 or fill out our easy-to-use contact form.