Start with what you want to see
Where roofline lighting works on the building, landscape lighting handles everything below it: paths, garden beds, trees and stairs. The goal is to see the tree, not the light pointed at it. Done badly, it looks like an airport runway down the driveway.
What usually gets lit
Most plans start with the path to the door, because that is the part you use whether or not anybody is looking. A well placed uplight gives the yard depth after sunset. Then there are garden beds, steps and retaining walls where the light is really about not tripping, and the parking area.
Where the categories blur
The request is rarely just one type of lighting. Out back, patio lighting is the difference between a patio you use and one you look at. Security lighting lights the places that stay dark, which is a different job from making a tree look good. Accent lighting handles the detail.
What to avoid
The most common mistake is too much of it. A yard lit evenly at every point has no depth, which is exactly the look people are trying to get away from. The second mistake is glare, so every guest gets a light in the eye on the way to the door. The third is ignoring how the yard will
https://messiahbxyq296.tearosediner.net/permanent-holiday-lights-one-install-every-holiday-should-you-install-permanent-holiday-lights-an-honest-look look in five years, when the shrub in front of the uplight has doubled.
Businesses and communities
Businesses light the grounds for other reasons. Outdoor seating lives or dies on the lighting. Parking and walkways come down to safety. A neighborhood entrance is about the first impression of the whole community, which is why entry lighting gets attention in planned developments.
Landscape lighting and roofline lighting in one plan
The two solve different problems, and most properties want both. Roofline light gives the house a shape after dark, and the yard lighting gives the front of the property depth.Doing them in one plan beats adding one to the other later. If the budget has to be split, ask which half does more for your property, and the answer is not always the house.Landscape lighting is not entirely hands off. Fixtures shift over time, beds fill in around them, and the aim wanders. Once a year it is worth walking the yard and correcting the aim, which takes very little time and makes an obvious difference.
Where to go from here
A landscape lighting installation should be designed at the property, at night if you can. EverCrest Lighting installs landscape lighting as well as patio, accent, security and permanent LED roofline lighting for residential and commercial properties. They are based in Greenville, South Carolina and serve Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. The consultation is free and the design is drawn for your property. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].