Outdoor Wall Lighting Can Be A Great Addition To Your Landscape Lighting Display
Posted on September 15, 2010
Filed Under Accent Lighting | Leave a Comment
If you are looking for a cool way to add some flavor to your landscape lighting project then maybe you should consider
some outdoor wall lighting. Wall lighting can be done with up lighting, down lighting, spot lighting or accent lighting among other ways. Vertical elements in the garden such as walls, fences and even fence posts can be light up with landscape lighting which can accentuate the design features of them. Many walls have architectural design elements including unique forms, textures and patterns that can get lost at night without proper lighting. A popular way to use outdoor wall lighting is by using sconces. They can provide an additional architectural element to your landscape both during the day and at night time as well as provide a down lighting on the surface and ground plane of the wall. Many sconces are beautiful to look at as well and come in a variety of shapes and colors to choose from. You’ll want to be sure and pick a light fixture that goes with the architecture of your home or business and is in the proper scale for the landscape and home. Spot lighting can be used to bring attention to a specific feature that you may have on a wall or adjacent light a fountain or a nice sculpture. Whether you choose down lighting or up lighting depends on the specific situation. Other types of wall lighting include traditional lamps that mount to the wall and can be hardwired into the electrical system or are solar powered landscape lights. New technologies exist now such as LED landscape lighting that can save you money as well. The same holds true for landscape lights that are installed at the base of the outdoor wall and provide up lighting. They can either be hard wired or solar powered. As always, choose your lights based on your personal style, the amount of light needed to provide the desired effect as well as your budget. Outdoor wall lighting is a terrific way to add value to your home as well as provide additional safety and can be done even on a limited budget.
Fall Season Is Great Weather for Installing Landscape Lighting, Fall Displays
Posted on September 4, 2010
Filed Under Garden Lighting | Leave a Comment
After one of the hottest summers on record for many parts of the country, the fall brings much needed relief and cooler temperatures and makes fo
r a great time to install some landscape lighting. Landscape lights add so much to the look and feel of your home and these days a simple system can be installed very inexpensively. Solar landscape lights are by far the easiest to install. They can be bought in singles or packs and install in less than an hour or so. As I’ve written about in earlier posts, the first step in your lighting project is to go out in the evening when its dark with a flashlight and highlight the areas that you want to accent. Every landscape has components that will need lighting such as walkways, steps or stepping stones, plant material such as specimen trees and shrubs, and water features like fountains.
One of the great aspects of fall is the turning of the leaves and the vibrant colors that occur. This beauty can be enhanced with the landscape lights and usually with up lighting such as spotlighting or broadcast lighting. But there are other ways to light big established trees, for instance with moonlight globes. I wrote about moonlight globes in an earlier post and described how they offer a more modern look. They are more expensive than the landscape lights that most homeowners purchase but offer a look that no other lighting can. They can be hung from branches or placed at the base of the tree. Either way, they are a very unique way of lighting your landscape.
This time of year is also a perfect time to get creative with fall displays of harvest including the classic wheel barrel with pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn with possibly hay bales to set the background. Adding a scare crow or wooden wheel is a great accent as well. Be sure and add some fall plant material such as Chrysanthemums, Sweet William, Pansies (in the south) and ornamental Cabbage or Kale to your landscape as well. Top it all off with some landscape lighting and you’ve got a terrific fall display that you can enjoy for the next several weeks!
An outdoor porch decorated for fall should include practical and decorative lighting. One option could be installing rope lights to mount under porch railings or around the edges of the porch overhang. Rope lighting is available in various lengths and colors, and they can be combined with other rope lights or trimmed to fit perfectly. In addition to rope lights, consider choosing two solar or electric spotlights that can be pointed toward the display on both sides of the walkway. The addition of lights is one of the easiest ways of decorating a porch for fall, and it makes a dramatic impact on the display.
Spring is The Perfect Time To Install Landscape Lighting
Posted on May 22, 2010
Filed Under Accent Lighting | Leave a Comment
Out with the old, in with the new! Spring is a terrific time to take care of those projects around the house like cleaning out the garage, painting, or do
ing some landscaping. Once the weather warms up working out in the yard can give you a great sense of satisfaction when you see your project complete. Building a pergola, installing annual flowers or installing some landscape lighting can be a great way to enhance the appearance of your yard. Landscape lighting is a very inexpensive and easy way to enhance the night time appearance of your home with very little cost. The average cost for a small starter set of landscape lights for the yard is about $20 and can be installed in an hour or so.
Spring also means longer days to work outside, especially with daylight savings time. It’s possible that you could install your landscape lighting and still have plenty of time to do other projects as well as enjoy some time with your family.
Here is a quick method to laying out your yard lights:
- Pick an evening and go out in your yard with your flashlight and use it to high light the places that you want to light. Look at your walkways, trees, landscape beds, water features and driveways as possible locations for your landscape lights.
- Determine your budget – this will help determine the quantity and quality of your lighting project. If you want to go for quality and don’t have the resources financially to install all of them at once, then go ahead and do your planning in advance, pick out the places that you will want landscape lights to be and get as many lights as you can afford. Do it in phases – come back when you can afford to finish the project.
- Install your lights! The easiest method is using solar lights… no running of power to your lights, just install as described by the manufacturer. Nature provides the power.
In addition to enhancing the appearance of your yard, landscape lights can improve the safety of your home as well. Thieves are much less likely to approach a house that is well lit versus a houses that completely darkened at night. They can be spotted by neighbors and passer-by-ers if you have good lighting as well.
Enjoy the spring time and make your yard standout with landscape lighting!
