Garden lighting is a great way to enhance your outdoor space and get additional enjoyment from your garden and other plantings.
Garden lighting has become increasingly popular due to the wider availability of lighting styles and improvements in lighting technology. Take a walk through your neighborhood and you will soon see the homes with the most curb appeal are as attractive at night as they are in the daytime. Instead of a hulking black hole, homes are now strategically lit to show off the features of the landscaping as well as to provide added security to the property. Whether the lighting is illuminating a towering palm tree or washing over low growing ground cover, lights add drama and dimension to any landscape.
It is remarkable how a few well placed lights can add to the beauty of a home or garden. The key here is to properly place the lights as well as use the proper amount of fixtures and wattage. With outdoor garden lighting especially, more does not necessarily mean better. Highlighting everything ends up washing out the landscape rather than enhancing it. Wattage should be directly proportionate to the size of the plant or tree being lit. You should take into consideration the type of lighting necessary to light only the intended object with the least amount of light pollution spilling onto areas you do not want lit. The effects of illumination are not limited to what is being lit but often times what is not. In lighting for effect, shadow is as important as light. Lighting your home with too much wattage will have all the appeal of a convenience store parking lot.
When deciding on what type of garden lighting you should consider more than just wattage. Color is very important in determining how you space will look when lit. Do you want a clear white light to highlight a particular plant or are you looking for a warmer orange glow to light a larger area. Researching the different options is important in finding just the right light for your needs. Seek out similar circumstances around your neighborhood or at home shows to help you make your decision. There are innumerable resource books and magazines to help you find just the right lighting fixture to get the desired effect for your application. Educating yourself on the different lighting technologies is also very important. For instance, you may want to choose an LED light in a space that is hard to reach because of the longevity that the LED has to offer. Maybe you wish to light a rocky area where running a wire would be impossible. A solar powered lighting solution may be the best application in this instance. Lighting has the additional attribute of not only being functional but ornamental as well. Here you will need to determine the style of the fixture that best fits the surrounding area. You may want to make the light a part of the overall display or maybe a hidden fixture would be more to your liking. You will also want to make sure that the fixture is not only placed for maximum illuminating effect but is positioned in a way that it will not be detrimental to the plantings. Because of their low operating temperature, LED lights are increasingly popular for use in landscape lighting. They are not only safer but are much more cost efficient to operate.
Making the right decisions when selecting your garden lights will add a great deal of curb appeal to your home and add to the overall enjoyment of your landscape both day and night.
Amelia Gilfour is an expert in home and garden fixtures, specifically outdoor lighting.
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