As the days get shorter, it’s time to think about outdoor lighting. In addition to extending the time you can enjoy your outdoors and providing security and safety, there are a variety of lighting effects that can achieve dramatic results. It is important to consider which areas and objects you want to emphasize to be sure they are included in the landscape lighting design .
Up Lighting
Up lighting uses fixtures at ground level shining upward to accent a water feature, art work or the branch structure of a tree.
Down Lighting
Down lighting can light up a seating area or path way with soft, large pools of light. Fixtures can be placed under an eve, on a tree trunk or under an overhead shade structure or trellis.
Silhouette Lighting
Silhouetting uses fixtures located behind or beneath a specimen plant plant or landscape feature to cast an interesting shape on a wall.
Moonlighting
Moonlighting creates the effect of moon light by shing a soft light through the branches of a tree.
Step or Wall Lights
Special light fixtures can be placed into rock, concrete or wood steps and walls to splash a warm light in a transition or foot traffic area.
LED Lighting
All these landscape lighting effects can be achieved using LED bulbs. LED lighting is an energy efficient method of lighting the outdoors. While the intial cost may be a bit higher, the life span of the bulb and consistency of the light quality in all the fixtures makes them a much better value.
