Landscape lighting: Increase safety and time spent in the garden

Lighting is an important yet often overlooked landscape element. Properly placed, it enhances curb appeal, safety and security and also can set a mood and spotlight architectural details.

Use outdoor lighting to showcase a dramatic flowering vine or shrub, accent a sculptural tree or draw out texture within plants. Light up a path or walkway leading to your front entry or identify a point of interest or other visual destination. Create visual effects on a secluded gazebo or outdoor dining room. Or use lighting to capture a waterfall, fountain or other water feature in motion.

Start at the beginning

To begin your outdoor lighting plan, first start with how you currently use and hope to use your yard. Think about the areas that need to be well-lit for safety such as walkways and pathways as well as barbecue and prep areas for outdoor entertaining. Task lighting provides a practical solution for these type of areas or when performing specific activities.

Another way to bring in light is to flank pathways and walkways with solar lights or path lighting. Use built-in step lights to effectively illuminate stairs or place lights on a wall adjacent to the stairwell. Another way to light up steps is to mount "eyebrow" lights on deck rails or posts.

Add accent and ambient lighting

Spotlights and uplights create shadow play and visual effects that cleverly summons the eye to a sculptural tree, statuary or other focal point.

The key to creating accent lighting is to feel its effect without seeing the light source. Shine the light on the feature you want to accent while camouflaging the light source behind a plant, rock or another small structure.

Ambient lighting provides overall illumination, creating a magical ambiance found beneath the star-studded sky and soft glow of a full moon. Often referred to as the "moonlight effect," the goal is to create a beautiful balance between shadows and intense highlights. One way to accomplish that is to weave flickering white lights in the branches of a tree or to mount a few light fixtures on a stable tree limb.

Consider the power source

See more here:
Landscape lighting: Increase safety and time spent in the garden