There are few things quite as pleasing as an artfully lit landscape, but it can be a surprising challenge to make it relatively natural. Sure, you want a little drama, but you don’t want pathways that look like landing strips and annoying glare coming from every tree.


    Design Tips for Landscape Lighting:

    • Although you will eventually want to draw a rough plan on paper for a shopping list, the best way to try out different effects is to go out to the yard at night with a good flashlight. You won’t be able to see the total effect, but you will get to try individual situations. Manufacturers of fixtures are also a good design source.
    • You don’t want to light everything, so start with safety. Walkways and stairs are critical. There are small fixtures made for each of these situations.
    • Then move on to accent lighting. Pick out features. A group of trees or a big rock that would stand out when lit. Remember that low-voltage lighting brings out shape and texture. However, resist the temptation to light every tree in your yard.
    • It’s common to use too many fixtures. On walkways, just light one side of the path or stagger the fixtures, alternating between sides. On curved paths, just light the inside of the curve.
    • Pick fixtures that do the job that a particular location calls for. You can purchase well lights that are buried in the ground for a nice uplighting effect in bushes and ornamental grasses, spotlights that are used to focus on a particular feature, downlights that put light on the ground around them, tier lights that give more general lighting, and many others. So, choose an edge fixture or downlight for a path since you don’t need to light the area around it or above it.

    Landscape Lighting Effects:

    • Uplighting – often used to accent a tree with the fixture at the base
    • Downlighting – same idea only the fixture is up high and shines down
    • Spotlighting – creates a focal point by turning a spotlight on it
    • Backlighting – the feature is silhouetted by putting the fixture behind it
    • Crosslighting – using two fixtures from different directions to give even more dimensionality to a feature
    Today’s Homeowner Tips

    If this all sounds a bit complicated, remember that even after you have laid the cable for the fixtures, you can try an effect out in a location and still change your mind since this low-voltage cable is “self-healing.” You can merely disengage the fixture and try it in a new location.

    Editorial Contributors
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    Danny Lipford

    Founder

    Danny Lipford is a home improvement expert and television personality who started his remodeling business, Lipford Construction, at the age of 21 in Mobile, Alabama. He gained national recognition as the host of the nationally syndicated television show, Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford, which started as a small cable show in Mobile. Danny's expertise in home improvement has also led him to be a contributor to popular magazines and websites and the go-to source for advice on everything related to the home. He has made over 200 national television appearances and served as the home improvement expert for CBS's The Early Show and The Weather Channel for over a decade. Danny is also the founder of 3 Echoes Content Studio, TodaysHomeowner.com, and Checking In With Chelsea, a décor and lifestyle blog.

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