Creative Landscape Lighting
Landscape lighting not only enhances safety and security around your home, but a well designed lighting system can also create a gorgeous, evocative nighttime garden. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to put up a porch light, a few lights along the pathways and driveway and stop there. If you want more than that, though, take a look at the lighting designs available and how the different types of lighting are used to create striking nightscaping effects.
Landscape Lighting Design Tips
Here are a few practicalities to consider when you're planning your landscape lighting.
- Light for safety
It's important to light paths and stairways, but keep in mind that overly bright lights create glare and actually make it harder to see. For good visibility along your walkways, stick with shielded low-voltage lighting. - Light for security
Another problem with overly bright light sources like floodlights is that they cast deep shadows behind trees and buildings. These shadowy areas make perfect hiding spots for would-be burglars. A more efficient source of security lighting is a well-shielded light controlled by a dawn-to-dusk switch. Stay away from floodlights, globes, and unshielded wall fixtures as well as mercury vapor lights, which are banned in some US states. - Use the sun at night, too
Solar landscape lighting is both energy efficient and easy to install because there's no need to run wiring. Most are bright enough to light pathways and they're available in unique designs (not just those black plastic ones most people use). - Color
If you're designing a nightscape, it's important to know that not all lights render color in the same way. That is, some lights give colors a strange cast that looks unnatural. To tell how accurately a light renders colors, check its Color Rendering Index (CRI) rating. This index ranges from 0 (least natural color) to 100 (most natural color). For example, low-pressure sodium lights have a CRI rating around 25 whereas the rating of some halogen lights is around 95. Generally, anything with a rating over 80 will look fine.
Where to find unique landscape lighting
You don't have to settle for the same ugly black plastic fixtures everyone else on your street has. Browse through the sites below to find unusual handmade lighting fixtures.
- Garden Artisans
- Garden Artisans offers beautiful handmade lighting fixtures that look good day and night. The hand-blown glass oil lanterns are great if you do a lot of outdoor entertaining. When you visit, be sure to take a look at the other handmade garden decor available here.
- Stone Manor Lighting
- The lights in the Stone Manor collection are so nice you may not feel quite right about leaving them outdoors. The stained-glass and brass fixtures are reminiscent of Tiffany lamps.
- GI Designs
- Specializing in copper and brass lighting fixtures, GI Designs creates landscape lighting ranging from simple, elegant lanterns to elaborate path lights that are truly works of art.
- Outdoor Landscape Lighting
- These rustic wooden fixtures are well suited to a cottage garden or a home nestled in a conifer forest. If you want good visibility in your garden, but don't want the lighting to stand out, have a look at these lights.
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