We want to lit our landscape in a way that it looks astonishing, artful and unique bit most times we fail doing this and we create unwillingly something that resembles a typical state penitentiary instead of a beautiful looking landscape. Most people who consider decorating their landscape with outdoor lighting don't know exactly where to start and they might need some basic landscape lighting tips to get them started. This article will explain what you should do and what you should not do in order to create the landscape lighting resutls want.
Tip 1
Don't use too much lighting fixtures when you are planning to illuminate your landscape. Somehow we always overdo things and instead of accentuating certain spots of our area we are flooding our entire landscape with light which does not create a nice effect. Think about what you exactly want and start with a few lighting fixtures and go up from there.
Tip 2
What a lot of people but also manufacturers are doing wrong is that they don't hide the source of light. A well lit landscape should never show the source of light but only the result of it. Seeing the lighting fixture will create glare lighting and this is not something we want. We don't want to accentuate the lighting fixtures itself, we want to accentuate our fountains, trees and ponds.
Tip 3
You have to think about it for a second, do you want to accentuate your landscape or do you want it to look like a a Portuguese restaurant flooded with fluorescent lamps? The secret to landscape lighting is that you should not use to much wattage. You want to use bulbs that use very low wattage like 7-13 watt and 20 watt at most. If you want to use 20 watt than you should have good reasons for doing that because you will already create flooding. Brights lights will only overwhelm your landscape and they will get a lot of attention. Again, you want to accentuate things and not putting them in to the spotlight.
Tip 4
Flooding an area with light is not a good thing. If we don't shroud our lighting fixtures than the light will not only be aimed to the spot we want to accentuate but also to the surrounding area creating flooding. We don't want to create flooding because than we are losing the whole aspect of accentuating our landscape.
Tip 5
We frequently use timers to set our landscape lighting on and off but this is not always the way to go. We want to enjoy our landscape lights but we are not enjoying it when it is 2 or 3 o clock in the night because we are a sleep. Turn your landscape lighting fixtures off when you are off to bed because you are only wasting money and natural resources if you let them lit the entire night.
Tip 6
If you are placing your outdoor lighting fixtures on your patio, garden or entire landscape than you want to take in mind that lighting attracts bugs, and lots of them. There are some things you can do in order to prevent or lesson the amount of bugs attracted to the lights that are closest to your patio.
1) Shine some light fixtures on leisure area's in your garden like flowers or bushes
2) Add a bug zapper in to your outdoor lighting plan.
These simple landscape lighting tips might help you to prevent bugs entering your patio.
Tip 6
You want to get some ideas on how to lit your landscape because you don't know up front how it will look. To get some ideas you can drive around at night in your area and look at some ideas of your neighbors. You can also visit some manufacturers and ask if they have some magazines that are full with designing tips on how to accentuate certain area's in your landscape. Another good idea is to go out with a flashlight and try some things out. Try to illuminate area's from different directions and see what you like and want to replicate. Although a flashlight is not comparable to lighting fixtures, it will give you a basic idea how it will look.
Tip 7
You should not only use accent lighting if you want to install your outdoor lighting fixtures. Also think about safety and try to lit area's that need it like your walkway, driveway or steps that are hidden in your garden. From there you should think about what further area's you want to accentuate.
Tip 8
There are different ways to illuminate your landscape:
*Downlighting: The lighting fixture is up and is aimed at the ground.
*Uplighting: The light is shining up and is frequently used to accentuate a tree or a bush.
*Backlighting: Here you are placing the fixture behind the object you want to accentuate, silhouetting the object.
*Spotlighting: Here you are drawing attention to a focal spot by shining light on that object
*Crosslighting: Using two fixtures aimed from 2 different directions can create really nice results.
Tip 9
Many people consider solar lighting for accentuating their landscape. However, the light that solar lamps emit is often not as bright as low voltage lighting and will therefore not be able to accentuate certain area's but only accentuate their own location. They are well suited for using on your patio, driveway or walkway to illuminate a path or area but they are not fitted to accentuate trees, bushes or fountains.
These are just some basic landscape lighting tips but I hope they will be of guidance when you are planning to install outdoor landscape lighting.
Sources and Related Websites
http://www.dannylipford.com/diy-home-improvement/design-and-decor/design-tips-for-landscape-lighting/
http://starrynightlights.com/blog/2007/03/07/landscape-lighting-tips/
http://www.landscapelightingshop.com/path-lighting/lightingtipsarticle.cfm
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