Landscape Lighting Techniques

Landscape Lighting Techniques

With the fall season in full swing and winter quickly approaching, the weather is getting colder and it is getting darker earlier. This is the perfect time to start thinking about your outdoor lighting and how you can update your current landscape lighting. Antonucci Lawn and Garden has a few Reno landscaping lighting techniques that will help highlight various aspects of your property.

What Needs Light Exposure?

Before you start placing lights here, there and everywhere, you need to ask yourself: What areas of my yard need light exposure?Planning out your landscape prior to beginning the project is an important step. Grab a piece of paper, a pen, and sketch out the design of your yard. In this sketch, you should include everything, the fence, trees, pathways, garden beds, don't leave anything out. This allows you to target specific areas of your yard that you would like to illuminate and decide which types of lights you would like to install.

Types of Lighting

Solar Powered Lights

With solar powered outdoor light fixtures, they don't require any wiring but need to be placed in areas that are exposed to the most light. Solar powered lights are easy to install and perfect for yards that don't have easy access to electrical ports.

Low Voltage Lights

This is the most energy efficient type of outdoor lighting. It operates at around 12 volts and is fairly easy to install.

Landscape Lighting Techniques

Adding lighting to your Reno landscaping can really add value and beauty to your yard. Here are just a few lighting techniques you can use to illuminate your front and backyards:

Landscape Lighting Techniques

Grazing

Take your outdoor lighting to the next level and highlight your home by using the grazing lighting technique. Grazing is used to accentuate textured walls and create a shadow. Because these lights are small in size, they can be used as uplights or downlights. The grazing technique looks great against brick and stone textured walls and buildings. To get the best results, place the lights about one foot away from the surface that you are trying to highlight.

Pathway Lighting

Pathway lighting not only adds a decorative look to your yard but doubles as a safety precaution. When the sun goes down, it becomes difficult to navigate your way through the yard and up to the house. Pathway lighting ensures that you will safely make your way from the yard to the front door! There is a wide variety of fixtures to choose from.

What are the Benefits?

There are several benefits to installing pathway lights in your front and backyard. Some of these benefits include:

• Security

• Putting Emphasis on Certain Areas of your Garden

• Great for Entertaining

Shadowing

Shadowing is an excellent technique to use when you want to put emphasis on a shrub or tree that has a unique structure. For the best results, place the lighting fixture in front of the tree or shrub that you wish to highlight. If you want to cast a larger shadow, place the light closer to the shrub or the tree.

Common Landscape Lighting Mistakes

Landscape Lighting Techniques

While landscape lighting looks beautiful and adds curb appeal to your property, if not executed correctly, issues can arise. Some of the common landscape lighting mistakes include:

1. Light Pollution - With light pollution, it is all about the placement of your lighting fixture, the type of light, and the voltage. If you place your fixture improperly, it can do more damage than good.

2. Not Using a Variety of Fixtures - There is a wide variety of lighting fixtures that you can purchase and place around your yard. Each fixture is made to accentuate various parts of your yard. Some make the mistake of using one light fixture around their entire yard. You should use a variety of lighting fixtures throughout your yard to create dimension and make sure that you are highlighting the focal points of your yard.

3. Not Providing Enough Space - When it comes to the placement of your light fixtures, it is important to note that you don't need to place them close together. This makes your yard look overcrowded and you end up spending an excessive amount of money on lighting fixtures.

Reno Landscaping Services

For more information about Reno landscaping and lighting techniques such as how to correctly install lighting in your yard, contact Antonucci Lawn and Garden! Be sure to ask our commercial and residential landscaping company about other Reno landscaping services that we provide.

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