Wednesday 26 August 2015

Lighting up Your Landscape?

Your yard is ready with cherry-picked greenery and garden decorations. You are set to visually feast on Mother Nature by day, and by now you are your neighbor’s envy! Why don’t you play with lights to create the magical night atmosphere for your landscape after sundown as well?

Purpose of landscape lighting

Lighting up your landscape revolves around two reasons. One is to set the mood and another is to ensure security. Be it for a romantic evening or a cool hang-out with friends, you would want to create drama or you may want to keep that garden bench under the tree well lit for safety reasons. Simply put, make your yard a blissful outdoor living space by night.

How to go about it?

Before you set off, map your yard and deliberate on the real purpose of lighting up each existing light, vegetation, tall trees, water features or add-ons that you might want toforeground. Take the height of each element into consideration and mull over if it would absorb or reflect light. The thumb rule is to keep lighting minimal. Finally, estimate the costs you can afford.

Styles of Lighting

Uplighting

Landscape uplights are typically installed either at or below ground level to send the light rays up above. They can be used on a deck or patio to send light upward on an umbrella or a tall tree, accentuating the plants around.

Add uplights to your beautiful walls and fence to add visual interest and depth; they also provide no-nonsense pathway illumination.

The most common types of uplights are bullet/spot, wash and well lights.

Bullet lights, like the name signifies come with a narrow spot beam perfect to illuminate your prized plants or any architectural element.

When you want to subtly light up your shrubs and wall surfaces, opt for low diffuse wash lights.

If you would wish to light up the plants, benches or walls from underneath, go in for well lights. They are installed slightly below mark and not visible on the surface.

Downlighting

Downlighting is commonly used to light up outdoor areas such as patios, facades and gazebos by angling down your lights. If you place a light in a tree high in its branch and direct the lamp down, it washes the ground below quite like moonlight; that is why it is also called moonlighting. You get to watch the shadows of branches and leaves dance on the lawn or patio.

Directional Lighting

Accent lighting is probably the most common form of directional lighting. It creates a dramatic atmosphere by highlighting special objects such as sculptures or other architectural features. Added perk? They are usually adjustable, and so you can move them as required.  Maintenance Tips

Though low voltage LED lights are beautiful, demanding low maintenance and costing less, their positioning is most important in outdoor landscape lighting. Place them so as not to hurt people’s eyes. You do not want ground lights to be trampled on by kids too.

Regularly check for exposed wiring and old/broken bulbs along walls and ground.

Choose high quality fixtures to avoid recurrent repairs and replacements.

Use the right cables adequate for the load. Avoid using too many fixtures overloading one transformer.. Engage reputed professionals for intricate electrical work and take the burden  off your shoulders.

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