Landscape lighting is a design problem before it is a shopping problem
Landscape lighting lights the yard rather than the building: paths, plantings, trees, steps and the walk up to the front door. Done well, it looks like the yard is lit and not like a row of lamps. Done badly, you get a line of glowing dots along the path and not much else.
What a yard normally needs
Most plans start with the walk, because that is the part you use whether or not anybody is looking. Uplighting on a good tree changes the whole front of a property after dark. Then there are beds and low plantings, steps and retaining walls where the light is really about not tripping,
https://rafaelhncy751.cloudhinter.com/posts/custom-outdoor-lighting-design-the-difference-you-pay-for-is-your-lighting-quote-actually-a-design-four-questions-that-settle-it-custom-lighting-design-explained-more-than-the-hardware-does and the parking area.
The other outdoor lighting people ask about
Homeowners rarely want one category. Out back, patio lighting is the difference between a patio you use and one you look at. Security lighting deals with the corners of the lot, which is a different job from making a tree look good. Accent lighting highlights the parts of the house or yard worth a second look.
Common mistakes
More light does not mean better. A yard lit evenly at every point has no depth, and flat is the one thing you were trying to avoid. Badly aimed fixtures throw glare down the walk instead of on the ground. The third is forgetting that plants grow, since the bed in front of a fixture fills in.
Commercial landscape lighting
Businesses use the same tools for different reasons. Outdoor seating lives or dies on the lighting. Parking and walkways are a footing and visibility question. A neighborhood entrance sets the tone for everything behind it, which is why entrances get lit carefully.
Landscape lighting and roofline lighting together
The two solve different problems, and most properties want both. The house has an outline; the yard reads as space. Either one alone leaves half the property flat.Doing them at the same time beats adding one to the other later. If the budget has to be split, ask which half does more for your property, and it is not always the roofline.Unlike a roofline system, yard lighting moves. Fixtures shift over time, beds fill in around them, and aiming drifts. An annual adjustment keeps the plan looking like the plan.
How to start
The plan comes from walking the property, not chosen off a menu. EverCrest Lighting installs landscape lighting along with patio, accent, security and permanent roofline lighting for residential and commercial properties. Working out of Greenville, South Carolina, they cover Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. The consultation is free and the design is drawn for your property. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].