Benefits Of Outdoor Lighting Design As Part Of Your Landscape

One of the benefits of meeting with a professional landscape design team is they help you remember all the “little details” that don’t seem all that little when you’re reaping their benefits down the road. Outdoor lighting design is certainly one of those. 

Beyond Aesthetics:  Keep Outdoor Lighting Design At The Forefront 

Aesthetics are typically the driving force behind any outdoor lighting plan. It’s understandable that your primary focus is building just the right useful hardscape features, as well as the most desirable plants, trees, and shrubs, to make your outdoor spaces as beautiful as possible. However, proactive outdoor lighting design takes all of that and doubles down, making your landscape as attractive and functional at night as it is during the day. 

Here are some of the most notable benefits of designing outdoor lighting customized to your yards and outdoor living spaces. 

Safety is always the top priority 

Safety is always a #1 priority, especially at night, when occupants and guests alike are more prone to tripping and falling.  

You’ll want to include attractive lighting features that call visual attention to: 

• Areas of uneven ground 
• Steps 
• The exterior perimeters of walkways and patios 
• Drop-offs 
• Pools or ponds 
• Any known trip hazards 

Functionality is another important focus 

Our mild, Bay Area climate allows us the luxury to enjoy our outdoor spaces year-round, and that includes the evening and later night hours. To do that, lighting design should accommodate nighttime activity and events – BBQs, family gatherings, game nights, star gazing, etc. If you have an outdoor kitchen, you’ll want to include task lighting and ambient lighting, just as you did in your interior kitchen’s design. 

Elements to consider are: 

• Floodlights. Floodlights on the exterior home bring sharp focus to the home’s perimeter and the most immediate outdoor living spaces, like the outdoor kitchen and dining room. That being said, you want them to be bright enough to be functional, but not so bright or poorly angled that they create obnoxious glare or halos. 

• Garden lights. Typically, these are smallish, 18-inch to 24-inch tall posts with lanterns or shade-like tops that diffuse the bulbs’ glow. They’re used most often to illuminate plant and flower beds. Garden lights can also be used to light walkways and stairs. 
• Wash. These proverbially “wash” their target with a soft, diffused light. Wash lights are used to light up the sides of houses, sheds, privacy fencing, or espaliered trees on a wall. 
• Bullet. These are sort of like the floodlight of the garden feature world, but with an even more focused beam. They shoot their beams like a bullet, designed to be aimed directly at tree trunks, house features, or attractive hardscape features. 
• Well. Sunk into the ground, well lighting shoots straight up. Well, lights are covered by a waterproof protective cap, so they’re mostly hidden, and are used to illuminate the underside of plant foliage or to wash the lower portion of walls or facades. 
• Downlights. These lights are mounted up high, often on existing tree trunks or branches, so they shine downward. Depending on their aim, you may use downlights to highlight the tree’s foliage or to cascade gently onto a lawn or pathway below. When positioned correctly, and with the correct bulb/wattage, the effect should be similar to moonlight. 

Your landscape designer can walk you through the proposed plan, explaining which types of lighting they recommend, asking for input and feedback based on how your outdoor spaces are used most frequently at night. 

Home security also benefits from well-placed outdoor lighting design

Your exterior lighting plan also plays a role in home security. Lighting is a deterrent to burglars and vandals, but it can also interfere with existing security measures.  

If you have an existing home security system that utilizes exterior cameras, it’s good to bring your security system company and landscape designer together so ensure lighting enhances, rather than detracts, from your current system. For example, you want to ensure current cameras aren’t blocked by a newly installed light, or that the brightness doesn’t interfere with camera visibility.

Let Our Experience Benefit You

The team here at Bay Area Landscapes has decades of experience designing outdoor lighting plans customized to your landscape design and the way your household uses the outdoor spaces. Contact us to schedule your consultation.