Start with what you want to see
Where roofline lighting handles the house, landscape lighting takes care of the yard: paths, garden beds, trees and stairs. Done well, you notice the yard and not the fixtures. Done badly, it looks like an airport runway down the driveway.
The pieces of a plan
Path lighting comes first for most properties, since walking to the door in the dark is the daily problem. Uplighting on a good tree changes the whole front of a property after dark. Then there are garden beds, steps and retaining walls where the light is really about not tripping, and the parking area.
Landscape, patio and security lighting overlap
Homeowners usually want more than one thing. Out back, the patio only gets used after dark if it has light. Security lighting deals with the corners of the lot, which is a different goal from the pretty work. Accent lighting is the finish work.
What to avoid
The most common mistake is volume. A yard lit evenly at every point looks flat, which is exactly the look people are trying to get away from. Badly aimed fixtures put light in your guests' eyes instead of on the ground. The third is ignoring how the yard will look in five years, since the bed in front of a fixture fills in.
Businesses and communities
Businesses light the grounds for other reasons. Outdoor seating lives or dies on the lighting. A parking area is a safety question first. A neighborhood entrance sets the tone for everything behind it, which is why entry lighting gets attention in planned developments.
Landscape lighting and roofline lighting together
Roofline lighting works on the house. The yard is a separate job. Together they finish the picture. Roofline light outlines the building, and landscape light gives the ground in front of it depth.Doing them at the same time beats adding one to the other later. If the budget only covers one this year, a good designer will tell you which half to do first, and it is not always the roofline.Landscape lighting needs a look now and then. Mowers, mulch and seasons all move
https://titusedqv054.novacrestiq.com/posts/accent-lighting-the-art-of-lighting-less-how-does-accent-lighting-differ-from-everything-else-a-plain-answer-using-accent-lighting-well things slightly. An annual look and re aim keeps the plan looking like the plan.
Getting it installed properly
A landscape lighting installation should be designed at the property, at night if you can. EverCrest Lighting does landscape lighting installation as well as patio, accent, security and permanent LED roofline lighting for homes and businesses. They are based in Greenville, South Carolina and serve 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].