Outdoor Lighting - How To Create a Beautiful and Functional Lighting Design

An outdoor lighting design takes some thought and knowledge. It actually is a combination of beauty and function. There are different lights for different purposes. The goal is to have the lights serve both purposes.

Lighting your pathways is one of the most important things to accomplish. This is for the safety of both you and your guests. It can be dangerous not seeing your way around at night, particularly in bad weather. Therefore, path lights should be installed along your walks.

The amount of light that is given off by fixtures is called foot candles. This tells you how wide the circle of light will be that is cast from each path light. If this diameter, for example, is 10 feet peer light, you would place the lights slightly further than ten feet apart. Ideally, the light should over lap a bit so there are no gaps created.

As far as placement goes, I like to alternate the lights on either side of the path. They do not have to alternate along the entire path. It should be done so that it looks natural. Placing the lights on only one side creates a "runway" effect.

Path lights should be placed in planting beds. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is that placing the lights in the lawn creates a situation where the lawn mower may hit them. In addition, when lights are placed in planting beds, they blend in more with the landscape. The design should look as natural as possible.

Up lights are another type of outdoor lighting. These are usually placed at the base of ornamental trees, where they are aimed upward toward the tree, creating light on interesting branching, leaves or flowers. Depending on how much light you prefer, you can use two or three lights per tree. If you have numerous trees throughout your property, be selective in which trees you choose to light. Your lighting design should look balanced. You do not need your entire yard lit up like a Christmas tree!

Up lights can either swivel or be stationery. Those that swivel provide more opportunity for adjustments as the tree grows and changes in form.

These can also be used as accent lights. Perhaps you have a pretty sculpture or a water feature that would be eye-catching if lit up at night. A pretty waterfall lit showing the movement of the glistening water is beautiful.

Down lighting casts light down towards the ground and is often placed high up in large trees. This is also know as moon lighting as this is what the light is similar to. Down lighting can supplement path lighting. However, up lighting is used more for effects.

You can choose either 120v, low voltage or solar lighting for your landscape lighting system. Low voltage is a good choice. It is less expensive than 120v. It is also easier to install. The fixtures are connected to a transformer which is placed on the house. Depending on how many lights you are using, you may need one or more transformers.

Solar lights get there energy from the sun. Eight hours or more of sunlight are needed for them to function. That being said, there are solar lights available now that have solar panels which work in low light and even some shade. They have a super-bright bulb with a mirrored, glass lens to provide good illumination.

To summarize, you can use various types of landscape lighting power sources. You can select path lights, up lights and down lights to balance your lighting design and create the lighting that you need on your property.
Your design should be both functional and aesthetic.....and subtle.

Susan Schlenger is a Landscape Designer with a degree in Landscape Architecture. You can read more about landscape lighting at http://www.landscape-design-advice.com/landscape-lighting.html