3 Lighting Tips for Making Your Landscaping Stand Out
Have you ever wondered why some landscapes look beautiful at night? Well, one of the keys to that is lighting. There are many reasons why you should use lights in your landscaping, from privacy to safety. Lights can help achieve a certain atmosphere and make your home more appealing.
1- Up Lights
Are you interested in making your landscaping stand out? Using up lights is a great way to do it.
What is up lights lighting?
Up lights are lights placed on the ground that point upward toward, say, a wall or building. They create a sense of depth to the space and can help draw focus to a particular feature. For example, you might use up lights to highlight architectural features or a fountain. Up lights are also very helpful for illuminating walkways and creating more of an even feel between the grass and landscaping.
Up lights work best when they’re placed closer to the object than the other outdoor lighting—for example, if you’re using string lights for your walkway, then the up lights should be about six feet away from it and at least four feet beneath it.
How do up lights work?
The correct lighting will make your home feel warm and inviting in any season. Here’s how to set it up:
• Place up lights along walkways or next to doorways (or both).
• Use down lights at night along sidewalks or near plant beds.
• Use up-lights around gazebos and other architectural features.
• Experiment with placing one light above another for an interesting effect.
2- Silhouette Lighting
With this type of lighting, focus on the lines of your landscaping rather than the landscaping itself. The lights are placed behind or next to the plants and flowers, creating shadows that make them stand out. This is a great way to highlight other things in your garden like statues or pieces of art, too.
How Does Silhouette Lighting Work?
When you’re placing your lights, think about the direction they’ll be coming from. You want to look at where the sun sets and place the lights accordingly, so they’re shining through your flowers, trees, and other plants as the sunsets.
This will create shadows that will make it look like a shadow is falling on your landscaping even when there isn’t one. If you set up your lights correctly, you can use them for backlighting during the day as well.
In terms of where to put these lights, here are some common suggestions:
• Alongside tree lines in order to outline their presence
• Around tall plants like trees, shrubs, and ferns
• Alongside water features such as ponds and streams
• Under canopies (trees) so that light shines on plants
3- Light and Shadow
Use different light sources at varying heights to illuminate different sections. This will help you create focal points and set a mood in various areas.
Avoid harsh down lighting, which can create dark shadows on people’s faces and overpower the landscape, making it seem flat. Try using up lighting instead, which gives more depth to the landscape by casting indirect light on foliage and other objects.
Explore all the possibilities when it comes to lighting, such as wall washers that cast a diffuse light across a surface, spotlights that project a precise beam of light, or path lights that guide visitors along a path or driveway. You also may want to consider using fixtures with multiple bulbs so you can spread out or focus the beam of light.
Landscaping is used not just to make a property look nice, but also to show off a home or office’s best features. Using outdoor lighting will make your yard more appealing to the eye.
