Table of Contents
TL;DR: How Can I Make My Yard More Enjoyable After Dark?
Answer:
Lighting Accent Areas
Some of the best accent areas include:
- Trees
- Stone walls
- Ponds/water features
- Walkways & stairs
- Outdoor seating & living areas
- Special architectural details of your home
- Planting beds
- Landscape perimeters
There’s something about lighting that changes pretty much everything. So, whatever you put in the ground or on the wall or, you know, trees that you plant, it always ends up better at nighttime when you can change the whole scenery. Well, I bought the property in 2020. I was looking for enough land to be feeling like I was off the grid. Of course, it’s a big property, so I had to have a bunch of teams and I didn’t want five different vendors, and so I did a thorough search and Timberline, I started seeing Timberline trucks all around the town, and so I placed a call and it was all inclusive.
The lighting crew orchestrated by Kevin has been amazing. He and I think a lot alike. I think we have similar visions on how things should look. He brought lots of new perspective because I never had a forest behind a property before. And so we have lots of lighting in the back that he brought to bear on the property where there’s uplighting, and so you really see depth of the forest from the house. And so it was a great collaborative experience and continues to this day.
I have two streams that join under a bridge and then they go into the pond. And so you could hear the soothing sound of the stream at night, but you couldn’t see it. And I think audio and visual go together. And so for me, when we put in the puck lights in the stream and then we put the edge lights in the pond and the waterfall light, it changed the dynamics altogether.
Buying a house is one of the most significant investments everybody makes. And so why not take care of it? Why not show it off? And why not admire it? And I think you can do that with simple lighting. It can be pathway lighting. It can be outdoor lighting on the home. It can be features that you have around your house. We have a pirate ship fort for my grandkids and it’s lit up at night, and almost everybody who drives up says, “Oh my gosh, I think I’ll stay in your fort tonight.”
Everyone I have over to the house for entertaining or for dinner or events that we have here, they always like to go outside at dusk when the lights are on. They bring out their glass of wine or their cocktail and they’ll just meander around the property. You can sense a degree of relaxation more so than talking to a bunch of people in the house. It’s a strange phenomenon, but lighting changes everything.
I love coming home. In fact, every time I leave, even if I leave at like 4:00, I always turn all my lights on. I have the one button that’s all external lights. And I can’t wait to come home at dusk or in the evening just to experience the lighting. It changes the mood right here.
Types of Light Fixtures
There are a variety of types of lights that will feature your home in different ways.
Path Lights
Mounted in the ground, path lights generally reflect light downward and sideways into planting beds and enhance the textures. They often line and illuminate walkways, pathways or steps. When used on a pathway, these types of lights might be staggered, alternating from one side of the path to another.
Uplights
The most common technique used in outdoor lighting, uplighting creates shadows on the walls to accent key focal points and towering trees. The shadow enhances the design of the object, commonly a tree or other prominent feature. Uplighting dramatizes features through illumination from below.
Wash Lights
Very similar to stage lighting, wash lights fill unlit spaces by brightening flat facades. They are a soft, diffused light used on garden walls and privacy fences or elegantly illuminating the front of a home. Wash lights project visual uniformity with light that is evenly distributed. The idea is to eliminate highlights and shadows and make the highlighted features feel more grand.
Bullet Lights
Traditionally resembling a bullet, these lights have a more direct, narrow beam. Very versatile, they’re used for lighting trees, home accent features and other garden structures. There is a wide variety of styles, beam widths and lumen output with bullet lights, which gives quite a few more options when designing landscape lighting.
Well Lights
Well lights are hidden and buried in the ground. They are used to illuminate the underside of foliage, architectural elements and interesting textures. The benefit of well lights is the absence of seeing a fixture, ensuring the focus is on the light itself. Having a smaller profile allows the feature to be discreet. Architectural columns and flag poles are also commonly lit by well lights.
Downlights & Moonlighting
Downlights are just like they sound: they are aimed down from a higher vantage point. The shape of the casing reduces the side glare as it points down through foliage, lights up paths, or illuminates lawns. Downlighting is also known as moonlighting as it resembles moonlight coming in through leaves and branches. Downlights can also be placed under the eaves of houses as well as on trees. Even though they can be used in conjunction with traditional path lights, sometimes it can be more logical to light from above, especially if the home houses energetic pets or children who enjoy rambling outside.
One of the more common questions about downlights is, “Will it damage the tree?” If installed properly on mature trees using zip ties or stainless steel hardware, the tree will be fine.
Submersible Lights
Water features can dramatically enhance the design of a landscape. When lit properly the effect will be enhanced, especially when using cool white LED lamps. The reflection of the water will twinkle and any fish will be illuminated.
Step Lights
These types of lights are very practical but can be implemented in a subtle, stylistic way. Step lights are mainly designed for safety, lighting up steps in your landscape and creating an easier path to walk along.
LED Advantages
LED lights are absolutely the lights of the future. They are more energy efficient, have a much longer life span, produce significantly less heat and have consistency in light output. Many LED lights feature heat sinks or temperature sensors to ensure a fixture won’t overheat, making them safer than incandescent bulbs. They are a great addition to your outdoor lighting plan.
Professional Outdoor Lighting
Some of these systems can be implemented yourself but hiring a professional might be the right way to go. Certified professionals understand the needs of your landscape, how to light it, and most importantly, they will follow local ordinances. Proper lighting design and implementation of electrical codes will reduce the need for maintenance or adjustment.
To get more advice from a Timberline professional, contact us through the link below!
