Highlighting the beauty of your landscape structures can be achieved through a number of different techniques. The various techniques available are, in part, due to the versatility that today’s lighting sources have with regard to where they can be placed. Designed to blend in, modern lighting elements are easily hidden in ground coverings, submerged in water features, or placed into trees. Below are three popular lighting techniques used to accentuate your landscape.
Up Lighting
Up lights are designed to show off the specifics of your landscape, such as unique plants or architectural elements. Uplights also add dimension to walls, fences, or other flat surfaces, add ambient light for walkways, and create dramatic silhouettes with well-placed highlights and shadows.
Uplighting is achieved with many different types of lights, such as spotlights or floodlights. They are usually mounted at ground level (or sometimes even below ground level), with the light turned upward to create the desired effect.
Down Lighting
In contrast to up lights, downlights, as their name implies, are turned to face downward and can be placed above ground in patio covers, stone walls, trees, or house eves. This illuminates large spaces to bathe the ground in light and define specific areas by using an inviting glow.
Downlighting can be used to spotlight a flower bed or waterfall, for example, and can be a very effective way to illuminate a doorway. When placed high up in trees, downlights cast leafy shadows on the ground below, giving the ground a moonlit effect.
Specialty Lighting
For lighting effects that are more imaginative and also complementary to your landscape structures, there are a number of options available to achieve the ambiance that you want. For example, if you would like to provide safety for any evening guests while also creating visual interest, path lighting can be used to create a soft and diffused light.
If a more festive mood is the goal, string lights, similar to the ones that are often used at wedding ceremonies, can be a perfect choice, and some favorite places to install them are around the trunks of trees, along fences, or even around hardscaping elements like patios.
Underwater lights are used to highlight pools, ponds, and waterfalls. These can induce a calming effect as their glow appears from beneath the ripples of the water.
Installation and Maintenance
A well-designed and expertly-installed lighting system can be both the crowning touch that will turn your home from typical to breathtaking, as well as a solid investment that will last for years. Let us help you devise an outdoor lighting plan with a style that will add beauty and function to your space.