Start with what you want to see
Landscape lighting puts light on the ground level of a property: walkways, beds, trees, steps, driveways, the path from the car to the door. Done well, it looks like the yard is lit and not like a row of lamps. Done badly, you get a line of glowing dots along the path and not much else.
What a yard normally needs
Most plans start with the path to the door, because that is the part you use whether or not anybody is looking. A light aimed up into a tree gives the yard depth after sunset. Beds, stairs, retaining walls and the drive round it out, and the step lighting is safety more than looks.
Where the categories blur
Homeowners usually want more than one thing. Patio lighting is what turns a patio into somewhere you sit in the evening. Security lighting covers the dark corners, the side yard, the area behind the garage. Accent lighting is the finish work.
Where landscape lighting usually goes wrong
More light does not mean better. A yard lit evenly at every point has no depth, and flat is the one thing you were trying to avoid. The second mistake is aiming fixtures where people walk, so every guest gets a light in the eye on the way to the door. The third is forgetting that plants grow, since the bed in front of a fixture fills in.
Commercial grounds lighting
Businesses light the grounds for other reasons. A restaurant patio has to be comfortable to sit in after dark. Parking and walkways come down to safety. A neighborhood entrance sets the tone for everything behind it, which is why entry lighting gets attention in planned developments.
Combining the two
Roofline lighting handles the building. Landscape lighting handles everything else. Together they finish the picture. The house has an outline; the ground has layers. Either one alone leaves half the property flat.Doing them at the same time is easier than doing them a year apart. If the budget has to be split, a good designer will tell you which half to do first, and it is not always the roofline.Unlike a roofline system, yard lighting moves. Fixtures get bumped by mowers, plantings grow up
https://eduardokwnb063.wpsuo.com/curb-appeal-lighting-how-light-changes-the-view-from-the-road-how-does-outdoor-lighting-affect-curb-appeal-here-is-what-changes-nighttime-curb-appeal-and-how-to-get-it-right in front of them, and aiming drifts. Once a year somebody should re aim what has drifted, which is a short job with a visible result.
Where to go from here
The plan should be made standing in the yard, not chosen off a menu. EverCrest Lighting does landscape lighting installation along with patio, accent, security and permanent roofline lighting for homes and businesses. Working out of Greenville, South Carolina, they cover Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. Consultations are free, and the design gets built around your yard. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].