Outdoor lighting tips from landscape designer – from types of outdoor lighting to illuminating trees and LED outdoor lighting.
Outdoor lighting design enhances and extends the usability of outdoor spaces and should be integral to all garden design.
Garden lights are needed for safety after dark as well as aesthetic reasons.
Outdoor lighting design enhances and extends the usability of outdoor spaces and should be integral to all garden design.
Garden lights are needed for safety after dark as well as aesthetic reasons.
TYPES OF OUTDOOR LIGHTING
There are many types of outdoor lights: spike lights (spotlights on spikes that you push into the ground), hanging lights, in-ground lights (which give a clean and flush finish), wall lights, step lights, bollards, pedestals, poles, feature lights and submersible lights for pools.
Landscape lighting needs to be either in sympathy with the architecture of your home, or invisible. Subtle bronze or tarnished copper fittings blend well with most settings. If you have painted walls, consider colored fittings to match a wall or accent colors.
The home entrance looks great framed by light at night; you can’t go wrong lighting either side of a gate. For this purpose, we use everything from wall-mounted coach lights to downlights and in-ground fittings.
A spike light is best for illuminating trees or garden features, and I always use LED outdoor lighting. For small trees I recommend using five watts; for trees taller than 15m, use eight watts. A trick I like to use is to angle the light to reflect off the tree trunk into the foliage.
Landscape lighting needs to be either in sympathy with the architecture of your home, or invisible. Subtle bronze or tarnished copper fittings blend well with most settings. If you have painted walls, consider colored fittings to match a wall or accent colors.
The home entrance looks great framed by light at night; you can’t go wrong lighting either side of a gate. For this purpose, we use everything from wall-mounted coach lights to downlights and in-ground fittings.
A spike light is best for illuminating trees or garden features, and I always use LED outdoor lighting. For small trees I recommend using five watts; for trees taller than 15m, use eight watts. A trick I like to use is to angle the light to reflect off the tree trunk into the foliage.
FAVORITE LED LIGHT FITTING
I love the Accento 5 in-ground bronze spike light by Gardens at Night. It’s well-made, LED, blends with the landscape and casts a warm light.
OUTDOOR DINING
I recommend outdoor wall lights for dining alfresco; overhead lighting directly above a dining table can be too harsh. A well-lit outdoor entertaining area will usually provide enough light for dining.
However, if you’re lucky enough to be seated under a large tree, think about tree-mounted fittings to create pools of light, which can look very cool and casual.
PATHWAY LIGHTS
To light up a pathway, I find bollards are usually best. I prefer small, machined fittings made from bronze to blend with the plant material. Lots of people use spike lights for this purpose, but I find they produce too much light for paths, and often the light source is too much on display.
Source: Guide to Outdoor Lighting
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