Why Is Landscape Lighting Worth the Investment?

May Collins Landscaping , , , ,

Whether lighting up a patio for entertaining, highlighting your home’s architecture, or illuminating a pond or water feature, landscape lighting adds beauty to any outdoor space. But what makes it worth the investment?

Before starting your installation, sketch a diagram of your layout. This will help you determine the best deployable wiring method. Contact Landscape Lighting Orlando now!

Landscape lighting elevates the aesthetics of your home and property by highlighting architectural features, landscaping, or decorative elements like statues or water fountains. It also provides a warm, welcoming ambiance that makes your guests feel welcome when they arrive after dark. Whether hosting a party or simply enjoying a relaxing evening with family and friends, landscape lighting creates the perfect ambiance for the occasion.

While some homeowners highlight every aspect of their yard, there are better approaches to curb appeal than this. Instead, try to accentuate the features you love and consider what your neighbors might find most appealing. For example, instead of illuminating every frond of your Foxtail palm, highlight one branch’s unique shape and texture to show off its charm.

Uplighting is a great way to show off specific architectural features of your home, including pillars, rockwork, or dormers. It can also add drama to tall trees, bushes, or topiary structures. However, it is important to note that lighting should be used sparingly to avoid creating an “opera house” look.

Another way to add curb appeal is using landscape lighting to highlight driveways and walkways. This allows visitors to navigate your property safely and gives first responders a clear view of your address at night. Illuminating paver driveways and walkways can make them seem more impressive and luxurious.

Lastly, landscape lighting can create a moonlight effect around the exterior of your home and set a warm and inviting mood. It can also make your home’s interior feel larger and more spacious by allowing you to see out into the illuminated landscape beyond.

Landscape lighting is a highly sought-after feature for potential buyers, as it is an attractive and cost-effective addition to any home. Proper use can increase your property’s value and help you sell your home faster. To get the most out of your landscape lighting, contact the experts at Infantry Landscaping to learn more about our services or schedule a consultation.

A well-manicured landscape isn’t immune to trip hazards – and even the best-laid plans can be foiled by lack of proper lighting. Falling on a hard surface in the dark can be embarrassing at the very least and painful at the worst. A well-lit walkway can prevent these pitfalls, deterring guests from injuring themselves and creating peace of mind for homeowners.

Often overlooked, safety is an important factor in any landscape design, particularly when it comes to outdoor home lighting. Whether hosting friends or family for the holidays or simply enjoying your backyard, proper illumination can make a difference in your guests’ experiences and overall satisfaction with their time spent on your property.

Illuminating walkways and entryways can also help deter burglars or unwanted trespassers by making it harder for criminals to approach your home undetected. This can be especially important around areas of your home that may be a target for intruders, such as patios or pools.

The most common landscape lighting fixtures are spotlights, which can come in various styles and beam widths. They can highlight any number of different features of your yard, including trees, shrubs, fountains and ponds, walls, fences, and driveways. Several lighting techniques, such as silhouetting, shadowing, grazing, and moonlighting, can further enhance these and other landscape features.

While illuminating your landscape, remember the potential impact on your power consumption and your property’s carbon footprint. You can make the most of your landscape without wasting energy by using LED bulbs, which are more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent options. Also, choosing low-voltage lighting means your wiring will be safely buried underground and won’t need to run up or down your house’s exterior.

Considering these considerations, you can create a safe, welcoming space for your guests that will make them want to stay longer and enjoy their time at your home. Incorporating these landscape design elements into your home can also increase its value and make it more likely to sell when the time comes to move on.

You put much effort into your home and landscaping, so why let it fade away at night? Landscape lighting provides safety and security and brings out the best in your property. Focal points are highlighted, textures that aren’t visible during the day become eye-catching details, and your landscape is brought to life in a whole new way.

You may have a home built in an architectural style that contrasts with the surrounding landscape, or you’ve got some prized shrubs and trees you want to draw attention to. Whatever your goals, a skilled lighting designer will help you achieve them with various options. Post lights, wall sconces, and more can highlight different parts of your outdoor space and create an elegant look.

Depending on the lighting technique, your yard will have an entirely new aesthetic. Lights recessed into the ground can illuminate steps and other hardscape elements for added visibility. Lights on the side of a house can make the space feel bigger by creating a shadow effect and illuminating dark corners of the yard.

Accent lights can be positioned under trees to bring them to life and create beautiful shadows. They can be aimed at different levels to showcase the various heights of the tree and create a stunning visual effect. Lighting a pathway can make navigating through your yard easier at night and provide a nice touch of curb appeal. These lights can be directional to guide your guests or more decorative, like the bollard lights shown here that add visual distinction between the path and surrounding greenery and tie into the clean-cut pergola and trees in this landscape design.

When you meet with a landscape lighting professional, they’ll likely review your needs and wants lists to ensure that the system you’re getting will cover everything on your wish list. They’ll also have some suggestions if they notice any areas you are missing. After all, they’ve seen it all before and have a knack for coming up with solutions to fit every budget.

After spending time and money on maintaining your yard, landscape lighting adds to the overall beauty of your property after dark. However, homeowners often need more time to invest in lighting because they worry about the impact on their energy costs. It is important to note that there are plenty of ways to achieve a beautiful, lit exterior without spiking your electricity bill.

For example, you can reduce your electricity usage by switching from traditional bulbs to LED lights (light-emitting diodes). These lights convert electricity directly into light rather than heat, making them significantly more efficient. They also last 25 times longer than traditional bulbs and come in various color options for enhanced customization and versatility.

Another way to optimize energy efficiency is by implementing lighting control systems. These can include timers, daylight, and motion sensors to ensure that lights operate only when required. This helps reduce unnecessary energy consumption and enhances security by deterring potential intruders.

Additionally, directional lighting techniques can increase energy efficiency by ensuring that the light is directed precisely where needed. This minimizes wasteful illumination and eliminates unnecessary glare. Smart lighting controls can further maximize energy efficiency by allowing you to adjust your lights’ intensity, timing, and color with a button or voice command.

Keeping your landscape lighting system in good condition is vital to its performance and longevity. Regularly cleaning your fixtures, removing debris, and replacing faulty components can improve energy efficiency and reduce operational costs. In addition, reprogramming your lights to take advantage of daylight savings and incorporating a smart hub can help reduce energy usage and cost.

Landscape lighting is an excellent investment for your home and can provide many benefits that enhance curb appeal, safety, and functionality. By incorporating proper maintenance, the right choice of fixtures, and the use of lighting control systems like motion sensors, dimmers, and solar-powered options, you can create a beautifully illuminated property while minimizing energy usage and expenses.

Landscape Lighting Can Transform Your Home Into a Bold Showcase

Charlotte Kelly Landscaping , , , , ,

Landscape Lighting Orlando, FL can transform your home into a bold showcase, highlighting fountains, ponds, flower gardens, and even favorite trees. It can also improve the safety and functionality of your property.

Landscape Lighting

However, it’s essential to balance beauty and function. To avoid potential electrical issues, ensure your lights can handle moisture like snow and rain.

Focal points are what grab people’s attention and set apart a section of your landscape from other areas. Without focal points, we get overwhelmed with too much information and our eyes aren’t able to zone into different elements. Focal points can be natural features like this moon gate, or they can be new additions to the landscaping like a water feature or a unique tree or bench. They can be anything that catches the eye and adds to your home’s curb appeal and style.

A well-placed landscape focal point can also work as a conversation starter, drawing in guests and inviting them to explore the whole space. If you have a large yard, this can help people find their way around and creates a sense of comfort and security for your family and friends.

For this reason, it’s important to carefully consider the size and placement of any new landscape focal point before you install it. Focal points should be big enough to capture people’s attention but not so big that they overwhelm your garden or landscape.

Focal points can be any type of inanimate object or living feature, from a tree or large boulder to a statue, bench, or fountain. Focal point lighting can be simple, highlighting a certain color or texture, or it can be more dramatic and create a silhouette effect on the subject. It’s important to choose a lighting style that compliments the nature of the focal point and can be easily maintained.

Using focal points is one of the most effective ways to communicate the value of your landscape and add a personal touch. We encourage our clients to have fun with focal point landscaping and let their creativity shine through. Our team at Whitehouse Landscaping is always happy to help you discover the perfect focal point that fits your landscape and home.

Pathways

If your landscape includes pathways that lead to and from the home or other areas, a well-planned lighting plan will keep them functional at night and safe from accidental trampling. Pathways also provide an opportunity to add light for ambiance and style, which can be achieved with the same techniques as those used on other elements of your landscape.

For pathway lighting, the most common fixture is a traditional post light, which stands on a small post and casts its light on the walkways below. These lights come in a wide range of styles, so you can find one that complements the look of your landscape and offers the functionality you need.

Another option for pathway lighting is a series of short fixtures that are positioned adjacent to the pathway. These lights look like mini-spotlights and can be aimed to illuminate different plants or even architectural features near the pathway. When done well, they can take your pathways from mediocre to amazing.

The key is to avoid putting too many pathway lights in close proximity. Using too many lights can cause the pathway to resemble a runway, and it can also interfere with the ambience you want to create in your landscape. Instead, a good lighting plan should include several of these pathway lights spread out at different points along the pathway and aimed in the right direction to highlight the desired landscaping elements.

Other options for path lighting include bollard lights, which are shaped like pillars and emit light in all directions to illuminate the pathway as well as surrounding plants. They require a bit of maintenance to make sure the bulbs are kept clean, but they can be a great choice for wide paths and open spaces.

Step lights are a cousin to path lighting, and they can be placed within or near steps to offer safety and a welcoming atmosphere. As with pathway lighting, they need to be staggered and focused on accident-prone areas to ensure they work well.

In some cases, the lighting from a fountain or other landscape feature may be bright enough to light up the entire pathway without the need for additional lighting. This is a great way to save energy and resources while still achieving the effect you desire.

Lighting for Entertainment

Many homeowners use landscape lighting to create a warm and inviting place for guests to relax after dark. They want to show off their fountains, ponds, flower gardens and patios — or maybe their favorite trees. But what many don’t realize is that landscape lighting techniques can take the appearance of your backyard even further.

A common technique is uplighting, which uses low-wattage lights to spotlight key features in your yard. This is perfect for illuminating walls, brick, stonework, stucco and flagpoles to really make them stand out. It also eliminates the problem of hot-spots and shadowing that you might have with high-density light.

Downlighting is another commonly used method that can really make your hardscape and softscape features pop. This can be done with sconces or pendants that are specifically designed to cast their light up or down, rather than ejecting it outward. This is particularly beautiful with brick exteriors, stonework or other surfaces that have a lot of texture.

Other techniques are less focused on highlighting specific hardscape or softscape elements, but still have great visual impact. For example, a bluish-tinted light can be set up high in a tree to give the illusion of moonlight. It can be an elegant touch to any garden feature and works well with a variety of tree sizes and shapes.

Finally, a good landscape lighting design should include plenty of ambient light to brighten up the space and make it safer for nighttime activities. This is especially important when it comes to helping you navigate your own outdoor spaces and preventing accidents like trips or falls over things like skateboards, rakes or dog toys.

You should never overlook the importance of safety in your landscape lighting design, and this is why you should always work with an experienced lighting professional that understands the unique dynamics of a home and yard. They’ll know how to balance a variety of aesthetics and lighting techniques without creating glare or casting shadows where you don’t want them. A qualified lighting designer will also take the time to learn more about how you use your landscape and what you enjoy most about it, so they can create a plan that truly makes the most of your outdoor space.

Lighting for Safety

Many homeowners think of landscape lighting as being a way to improve the aesthetics of their property, but well-placed lights can do more than just make things look good. They can also provide safety and security benefits.

Tripping hazards can easily occur when it is dark outside, as people often don’t see steps, stairs, curbs, or other obstacles in their path. Landscape lighting can help prevent these accidents by illuminating areas where they are most likely to happen. It can also be used to highlight other potential dangers, such as steps or uneven ground.

In addition to walkway lights, a homeowner can add lighting for the entrances of their home. This can help to deter intruders by making it more difficult for them to hide and sneak up on the house. It is important to use lights that are properly shielded so the light does not shine in the eyes of any unwanted visitors.

Lighting can also be used to highlight outdoor structures, such as sheds and gazebos. This can help to protect these items at night and keep them from being tripped over or damaged. Lighting can also be used to light a deck or patio, which is helpful for entertaining guests after dark. It can also be used to light a pool or hot tub, which can add a beautiful focal point to an otherwise dreary backyard.

Adding landscape lighting can be a great investment for any homeowner, as it can increase the value of their home and make it more attractive to potential buyers. However, it is important to choose the right lighting fixture for your needs and to perform regular maintenance to ensure the system functions as intended. A professional can help you determine the best type of lighting for your property and design a layout that will meet both your functional and aesthetic goals.

Make Use Of Your Small Space With These Landscaping Ideas

Charlie Higgins Uncategorized
Small Space Landscaping

When designing your small backyard, reduce visual clutter. Planters, potting tables, and other portable structures can be easily relocated or tucked away when not in use to keep your space looking clean and neat.

Often overlooked, side yards can offer an opportunity to grow culinary herbs and add a slim cafe table for morning coffee or relaxing. Layered lighting can also highlight your yard and make it feel bigger.

Planters

Taking advantage of vertical space is vital in small spaces. Adding plants and shrubs that grow upward will make your yard appear larger and provide more privacy, especially if they’re planted around the edges of your property. A variety of textures and colors in the landscape will also help to visually expand the area.

Focal points are important in any landscape, but they’re even more critical for a small garden. The key to a good focal point is to ensure that it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the garden. A planter, statue, water feature or other garden structure can be a fantastic way to create a focal point in your small garden.

When choosing the material for your planter, consider its durability. Fiberglass is an extremely durable and versatile material, making it ideal for outdoor use. It can withstand heavy rains and extreme temperatures without cracking or warping, and is easy to clean and maintain. It can also be made into nearly any shape, which gives you a lot of options for your planter’s design.

Another great option for small spaces are stackable planters. Using these, you can build a vertical herb garden or vegetable patch. These are especially great for urban gardens where the amount of land is limited. They can be moved around your yard easily and are a great alternative to traditional raised beds.

A planter’s height is also important to consider when designing a small garden. Low to ground-level plantings can be used to define a garden, and they’ll add more interest to a landscape that may otherwise feel too flat.

For a little extra height, try hanging baskets. These can be filled with beautiful flowers or delicious veggies, and they’re a great addition to patios, fencelines, arbors, and gazebos. Just remember to properly secure hooks for hanging heavy vegetable or flower baskets, and keep in mind that they’ll need a lot of light to thrive.

If you’re looking for more inspiration on how to make the most of your small garden, contact the team at Beyond Landscaping. Our skilled professionals have years of experience creating unique outdoor spaces, and we’d love to work with you on your garden!

Patio Shade Structures

Adding patio shade structures can make a big difference in your backyard’s ability to entertain and relax. It can keep your family and friends comfortable during outdoor activities, which will help you spend more time in the yard. The type of shade structure you choose depends on your space and your preferences.

Awnings are one of the most common types of shade structures and come in a range of fabrics and metals. They are usually stationary and can be expensive, but they offer good protection from sun and rain. However, if you are planning to throw frequent outdoor parties, consider getting a retractable awning that can be adjusted for different weather conditions.

If you want something less permanent but equally effective for shade, a canopy is a great option. It is typically a minimalist design that encloses your outdoor living area without covering it entirely. This style of shade structure can also be easily customized with pretty fabrics.

A pergola is another great option for patios, especially in areas that get a lot of direct sunlight. It is custom built to complement the landscape design of a home and can be left open or fitted with fabric to provide full coverage from the sun. This type of shade structure is also available in elongated versions that are well-suited for bus stop benches and other public spaces.

You can also create a shaded backyard oasis with a cabana or gazebo. These types of structures are much more spacious than a traditional canopy and can accommodate furniture for dining and relaxing. They can be purchased pre-fabricated or can be built from kits. The posts in these structures are usually placed in the back, which minimizes column obstruction and allows the front of the structure to be used as a walkway or seating area.

If you need a patio shade idea that is more in between the two options mentioned above, a hoop shade might be for you. These are a little like a cross between a tent and a canopy, and they can be erected quickly before a party or weighted down to stay in place permanently.

Fire Pits

A fire pit brings the fun of s’mores to your backyard and makes a cozy outdoor seating area for enjoying a summer night. While they’re often seen in large backyards, they’re perfect for small spaces as well. Whether you choose a traditional wood firepit with a metal grate or one made from tumbled concrete pavers, they look great on a lawn or integrated into a patio. While some homeowners swear by the crackling of a real wood fire, others may find that the ease of flipping a switch for instant (and more controllable) flames is a bigger draw.

Regardless of the type you choose, a fire pit serves as a centerpiece of your landscape and can help pull together the aesthetic of your entire yard. When paired with benches or Adirondack chairs, it can create an inviting gathering spot for the whole family. And if you’re a fan of southwestern style, you can play up its visual elements with decorative planters, Aztec-print rugs and corten steel accents.

If you decide on a gas-burning firepit, be sure to have a professional install the lines to your home’s natural gas supply. A good landscape design professional can also ensure that your yard’s masonry and hardscape materials are compatible with the gas line.

With the right plants around your firepit, you can create a secluded little oasis that feels far from the rest of your yard. Boxwood, roses and hydrangeas work well to frame your firepit, or opt for a more wild, free-flowing landscape design that uses grasses and native shrubs.

To add to the ambiance, you can even light up your space at night. Be sure to use caution with fire, however, as embers can stay hot for a while after the fire goes out and isn’t a good idea in the presence of children or pets. And don’t forget that ashes make excellent fertilizer!

Plants

The good news is that there are plenty of ways to make use of your space. The most important thing is to create a landscape design that meets your needs, which may mean creating a small patio to use for outdoor dining and entertaining or simply planting thyme and moss around a fire pit for winter warmth and ambience.

No matter what size your space is, there are always ways to improve the flow and functionality of it, so look for opportunities that can add more living area or extra storage without cluttering the room with unused items. For example, if you have a nook or a corner that is rarely used, consider installing a bench or putting in a desk, and then filling it with plants that can thrive in the shade.

Another great small space landscaping idea is to utilize vertical gardening. Plant flowers, greenery, and more up your walls, fences, sheds, and pergolas for a pop of color that makes the area feel bigger. Or, try hanging baskets and containers of plants and flowers from your deck railings, gazebo, or other outdoor structures to create a unique garden that is full of texture and life.

Every outdoor space contains microclimates, with shady areas, sun patches, compact soils, and moist spots. To make the most of these conditions in your backyard, create different zones using hard landscaping elements to add interest and provide the right kind of plantings for each area. For example, if you have shady areas and compact soils, try low canopy trees like birch, spruce, and maple, along with shrubs like hydrangea, rhododendron, and arborvitae.

If you have a long, narrow garden, tall ornamental grasses can help to open the space and make it appear wider. You can also plant heuchera, miscanthus, and stipa to add mesmerizing texture in narrow spaces.

It is important to have focal points throughout your landscape, but in a small space it is even more crucial. This will help the space to feel more spacious and give you a place to focus your attention and energy.