Landscape lighting starts with the yard, not the catalog
Where roofline lighting works on the building, landscape lighting handles everything below it: the walk, the beds, the trees, the steps. The goal is light you see the effect of, not fixtures you count. Done badly, it looks like an airport runway down the driveway.
What a yard normally needs
Most plans start with the walk, because that is the part you use whether or not anybody is looking. A well placed uplight gives the yard depth after sunset. Beds, steps, walls and the drive fill in the rest, and some of that is safety more than style.
Landscape, patio and security lighting overlap
The request is rarely just one type of lighting. 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 is the finish work.
Where landscape lighting usually goes wrong
More light does not mean better. Even light everywhere kills the contrast that makes it look good. Badly aimed fixtures put light in your guests' eyes rather than onto the surface. The third is ignoring how the yard will look in five years, when the shrub in front of the uplight has doubled.
Commercial landscape lighting
On commercial property the brief changes. Outdoor seating lives or dies on the lighting. A parking area is about people getting to their cars. A neighborhood entrance is about the first impression of the whole community, which is why entry lighting gets attention in planned developments.
Landscape lighting and roofline lighting together
The two solve different problems, and most properties want both. The house reads as a shape; the yard reads as space. Either one alone leaves half the property flat.Doing them at the same time is easier than doing them a year apart. If the budget only covers one this year, ask which half does more for your property, and the answer is not always the house.Landscape lighting is not entirely hands off. Mowers, growing shrubs and time nudge fixtures out of position. An annual adjustment keeps it looking the way it was designed.
Getting it installed properly
The plan comes from
https://jsbin.com/poyekeqavo walking the property, not chosen off a menu. EverCrest Lighting installs landscape lighting as well as patio, accent, security and permanent LED roofline lighting for homes and businesses. Working out of Greenville, South Carolina, they cover Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. Consultations are free, and the design gets built around your yard. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].