A comprehensive landscape lighting design can highlight your beautiful yard, make it safer and extend your enjoyment into the evening hours. With landscape lighting, the relationship between light and shadow on walls creates various stunning visual effects. There are multiple techniques that can help create the effects you desire. Using a variety of these techniques brings your home into a whole new light. Here’s our complete guide to all of your illumination endeavors.
Landscape Lighting for Walls
Placing lighting on exterior walls can create dimension, highlight key features and accentuate certain areas of your home. There are many different locations and surfaces to choose from when installing wall lighting. Here are some of your possible choices:
Landscape lighting images courtesy of Kichler
Wall-wash lighting: This landscape lighting technique directs the eye to the textures and shapes of items such as plant beds or other natural elements, adding depth and style. It easily accentuates the style of your home.
Grazing: Add depth and dimension to various architectural features of a home or building with the grazing technique. The light fixtures are often placed on the top or bottom of a structure, accentuating its entire surface.
In-ground lighting: This approach to exterior lighting delivers top-to-bottom lighting on installations such as sidewalks, trees, walls and flagpoles. In-ground fixtures are generally flat and can be easily placed among plants and rocks, or in gardens and flower beds, to help them blend into the landscape.
Shadowing: This technique directs the eye to trees or surfaces by casting a light in front of shapes to intentionally create a shadow behind them. Shadowing allows various shapes and sizes of objects to be made more obvious to the viewer.
Silhouette lighting: This landscape lighting technique draws attention to items such as trees or decorations by highlighting a vertical surface behind the object to accent the shape itself.
Hardscape lighting: This technique places lights directly on hardscaping features, such as retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, steps, and more. The overall effect guides the eye along your outdoor space and accentuates various textures and looks.
Landscape Lighting for Pathways and Walkways
Lighting up pathways, walkways and garden edges is both beautiful and functional by making walking around your landscape after dark safer. Depending on your application, you may need different techniques.
Landscape lighting images courtesy of Kichler
Xeriscape lighting: Accent plants like cacti, grasses and the stone used in xeriscape designs benefit from lower illumination rather than high-resolution lighting. Delicate details can be highlighted, so you can easily show them off to your guests. An added bonus is that incorporating low-voltage lighting into xeriscaped areas supports water conservation efforts.
Path and spread lighting: With path lighting techniques, you can illuminate sidewalks and paver pathways to guide guests along your property safely and efficiently.
Deck and patio lighting: You can also highlight the beauty and details of decks, patios and outdoor kitchens, to extend gatherings well into the night.
Additional Landscape Lighting Effects
With landscape lighting, you can create beautiful effects with the play of light through leaves or water. These techniques can bring a sense of calm and magical wonder to your yard.
Landscape lighting images courtesy of Kichler
Mirror lighting: This technique refers to the act of strategically lighting background areas around bodies of water, which then reflect landscaping details off the water. This creates a “mirror” effect and can be quite beautiful at night.
Moon lighting: When a fixture is placed high in a tree, the light catches the details of branches and imitates the natural look of moonlight. This is a good option for those looking for subtle lighting that easily blends into a landscape.
Underwater lighting: If you have a pond, pool or other body of water in your outdoor space, try placing lights underwater for a unique and luxurious look. By enhancing and highlighting flowing water in waterfalls, streams and fountains, a magical mirroring effect is created.
The Environmental Benefits of Landscape Lighting
Beyond the aesthetic appeal, landscape lighting provides significant environmental and safety benefits, making it an essential component of modern outdoor design.
Energy efficiency: With advancements in LED technology, landscape lighting has become more energy-efficient than ever. LEDs use just a fraction of the electricity of traditional light bulbs, reducing energy usage and lowering electricity bills.
Light pollution reduction: Thoughtfully designed landscape lighting can minimize light pollution. Directing light downward and using shielded fixtures prevents unnecessary light from spilling into neighboring properties.
Improved safety: Illuminated pathways and entry points provide clear visibility, and motion-activated lights offer an added layer of security by alerting homeowners to suspicious movements.
Enhanced outdoor living: Well-lit outdoor spaces extend the usability of your yard into the evening hours, allowing for more social gatherings and relaxation time outdoors.
Support for biodiversity: Thoughtful placement of lights can protect and support local wildlife. For instance, using warmer-colored lights reduces the impact on nocturnal animals and insects, which can be disrupted by harsh or overly bright lighting.
Contact Seiler’s Landscaping
Ready to enhance your property with the power of lighting? Seiler’s has helped countless clients do just that, and we’d be more than happy to share our experience with you. Contact us to schedule a consultation and get started.
