Landscape Lighting

One of the best ways to show off your great new landscaping job is, contrary to common belief, at night. Many types of landscaping look particularly beautiful at night, especially when you are working with stone, water, and large plant life.

In this brief article, we’ll take a look at some of the best ways to accentuate the outside areas of your house, as well as the different types of outdoor landscape lighting you can expect to find, and their specific uses.

There are lots of different kinds of landscape lighting, but the most popular are path lights, deck lights, directional lights, and well lights. Each of these has a specific purpose, and each of them can lend your landscaping a certain flair. Path lights are, obviously, meant to be used in conjunction with your front walk or garden path, and can illuminate a simple concrete walk for convenience and safety as well as give a cobblestone or marble walkway a unique flavor.

Deck lights are generally colored, and rather soft, to give wood a rich, earthy tone even on a moonless night. They can also be used to provide illumination for social gatherings, reading, or simply enjoying being outside on a hot night.

Directional lights are a landscaper’s dream, as they can accent and call attention to certain parts of your garden or front yard, such as stone sculptures or large trees. You can backlight plant life to give it a semi-transparent look, or light the front of artwork you want to show off. Directional lights are arguably the most important part of any large landscape lighting project.

Well lights are meant to be submerged in water, and can give pools an eerie yet soothing illumination that can be seen from a remarkably far distance. They work especially well in small ponds with fish, since light reflecting off the brilliant scales of, say, koi is a glorious sight. They can also be used in swimming pools to make night swims a delightful and safe experience.

Whatever kind of landscape lighting you eventually settle on, know that each unique type of lighting is best used in a specific situation and the best way to properly light any outdoor area is to combine the various effects of the different kinds of lights.

By employing each type of lighting’s benefits in a certain way, you’re sure to get just the look you want.

You will find many sources of landscape lighting on this page.