Make Your Yard Stand Out with Landscape Lighting

Once you’ve improved your landscaping, there is only one potential enemy – darkness. A beautiful yard deserves to be shown off, even when the sun goes down. By looking into landscape lighting installation, you’ll understand the real benefits of a well-lit yard and how different lighting elements can highlight the beauty already there.

Benefits of Landscaping Lighting

Adding landscape lighting benefits you in many ways:

• Ensures guests will always be able to see your landscaping
• Enhances and improves the looks of the yard by drawing attention to certain aspects
• Increases safety and protection through the use of timers or motion sensors

Lighting adds a new level of flexibility in the design of your landscape. The increase in the use of smart home elements gives you added control over the lighting, whether that means controlling the brightness with voice commands via an app or smart device or even changing the hue of the lights.

With added customization, you can also have different yard lights highlight various components of your yard depending on whether you have guests, an event, or are lounging at home with your family.

Types of Lights

Depending on your preferred set-up, many different types of yard lights could enhance your current landscape:

• Bullet: These compact lights project a narrow beam that’s perfect for when you want precise lighting to highlight features like the house design, landscape structures, or even tree trunks.
• Downlight: Another good option if you’d prefer to keep your lighting structures hidden as they are hidden among the branches of trees and provide a romantic, moonlit effect.
• Flood: Brighter than wash lights, and with a broader beam, too, floodlights are perfect for emphasizing large trees or walls, or disparaging potential intruders.
• Garden: With a canopy topping an 18- to 24-inch post, the light will be reflected downwards onto plants or plant beds. Garden lights are also ideal for pathway markers, and their design adds another element to your landscape’s overall look.
• Wash: These structures offer a soft light that works well with improving the available light on or near facades, fences, and walls.
• Well: If you’d prefer for the lighting fixture to not be on display, these lights are what you’re looking for. The structures are buried in the ground, underneath a waterproof casing for protection, and can show off the underside of plants, trees, or walls.

By using a combination of these lighting elements, you’ll be able to improve the overall look of your yard by highlighting the aspects of it worthy of emphasis. Even if you’d prefer to use just one type of lighting structure, a strategic placement will help you attain the look you’re going for.

Lighting Effects

Depending on the types of lights you use, you’ll be able to create a variety of effects to emphasize certain features of your landscaping better:

• Moonlighting: Adds usable light to your yard, especially if you have tall trees or other structures on which to install the lights.
• Path lighting: Increases safety and visibility by lighting up specific pathways in the yard.
• Silhouetting: Perfect for drawing attention to dramatic shapes in your yard, like a unique plant or tree formations.
• Uplighting: Ideal for highlighting the trunks of larger trees or the underside of a canopy.
• Washing: Improves the ambient lighting in a yard by flooding an entertainment area with light.

Get a Consultation Today

If you are ready to finish off the masterpiece that is your yard, having your landscape lighting designed and installed by professionals is the way to do it. Plant Professionals is here to help.

Our lighting design experts are ready to put their knowledge, skills, and experience to help you create the yard of your dreams. Contact us online or call today at 305-259-0503 for a free estimate or to set up a consultation.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/welcomia