Landscape lighting - the finshing touch

Landscape lighting is the finishing touch on many landscape projects today, from highlighting specimen trees to outlining the edges of swimming pools. In fact, Trevor Summers, design associate for Landscape Design in Norristown, PA, estimates over fifty percent of their clients opt to have it installed. If you've just spent thousands making your yard look fabulous, you want people to see it. Besides aesthetic reasons, lighting also adds hours to the time you can spend enjoying your yard, either relaxing on the patio, entertaining friends or swimming in the pool. And lastly, homeowners install landscape lighting for safety reasons, to move safely throughout their property and to deter thieves.

There are many lighting methods to accomplish these purposes. Most homeowners use a combination of methods, including uplighting, downlighting and pathlighting. Uplighting is the most unnatural so it tends to add a dramatic flair to your property. This can be done on trees, walls, ponds or wherever you’re looking for effect. Downlighting is the most natural because it imitates the contour lighting from the sun and the moon. And pathlighting is often installed along walkways and under steps for safety.

A lighting design plan usually begins by focusing on the architectural features of a home and its corresponding landscape. Landscape lighting can bring out features at night that wouldn’t be seen during the day. Owner compares the effect to a photograph. "The glaring effects of the sun often wash out your subject. It's like that with your house, too. But at night, with soft, glowing lights placed in just the right spots, you see a whole new side of your home and your landscaping," he says. Stone houses are especially eye-catching. "Stone looks great when it’s illuminated at night because of its inherent textures and recesses. Some stones, like Wissahickon Schist, has silvery colors that are illuminated at night when light shines on them. A lot of old homes in this area were built with this kind of stone," says Rall.

Pools are another popular place to shine some light. "Lighting around the rim of the pool is starting to gain popularity. It looks neat to see an entire outline of the pool and it sheds a balanced light over the pool’s surface," says Summers. And on waterfalls, the effect can be breathtaking. "Pool designs incorporating waterfall features with boulders look great at night with underwater light shining through them," says Lito Alberto, installation operations manager for Landscape Design.

Outside of the pool, "you want to incorporate lighting, as well. You want to utilize that area. You want to be able to entertain, as well as show off your landscaping while you do so," says Alberto. Lamp post lighting works especially well. "One light can give a broad area of visibility versus using a lot of smaller lights. Plus, you have a lot of options with styles and colors and can match the fixtures on a house," says Summers.

It’s certainly during the summer that we look to lighting to extend our evenings on the patio or swimming in the pool, but even in the dead of winter, landscape lighting can play a part, making snow covered branches glitter like magic. And no matter when the sun sets, your lights can be glowing as soon as it gets dark. Lights are put on automatic timers and can be adjusted as needed.

Installing a landscape lighting system is relatively easy. "It’s a single process and it doesn't disturb the landscape. A small trench is dug and the wire is laid in the dirt," says Rall. Why not do it yourself, you think? Because landscape designers come with the knowledge of the various products on the market today and how to create lighting effects with them. "Not everyone can just install lights. It's the art of placement," says Alberto. Installing a lighting system also requires a degree of electrical experience, as the use of a transformer is necessary.

Landscape lighting can be as simple, or as complex, as you want it to be. Most homeowners spend between $2,000- $12,000 plus. And it doesn’t have to part of a landscape installation project, lighting can be installed at any time. So for those of you who want to add some hours to their summer evenings, there’s no better time to see the light. Landscape Design has been successfully landscaping residential and commercial properties since 1992. With a peak season team of thirty, the company is large enough to perform a wide variety of services yet small enough to offer superior customer service and creative enough to land the Excellence in Landscape Design award from the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association. For more information call 610-239-7460 or contact us by form.

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