All About Landscape Lighting
You've pulled out all the stops to make your house and yard look first-rate. So why let that hard work disappear at nightfall. With a flick of a switch and some strategically placed outdoor house lights, you can roll back the darkness and put it all on display? Done right, landscape lighting makes the best of what you've got by highlighting your home's architectural features and drawing attention to prized plantings and trees.
From selecting the best outdoor lights to setting them up, our experts share how to brighten up the outside of your house.
Key Landscape Lighting Questions Answered
How far apart should outdoor lighting be?
Generally speaking, you have to plan where should outdoor landscape lights be placed. It is preferable to put your lights six to eight feet apart to ensure your pathway remains bright and well-lit.
How do you arrange landscape lights?
Landscape lighting placement varies depending on the techniques utilized.
- Highlighting – at the base of an outdoor feature
- Silhouetting – behind the feature, towards a close wall
- Shadowing – at the base of feature towards a wall
- Washing – a few feet away at an indirect angle to a wall or shrubs
- Up-lighting – low at the base light like washing, but more direct
- Down-lighting – bright and fixed in an eave, trellis, or hardscape
- Moonlighting – soft large fixture(s) high in tree angled down
- Accenting – angled up or down with a narrow beam from a hidden position
- Path-lighting – often staggered, illuminate the entire path, especially steps and obstacles
- In-grade – installed in surface, often at the base of stone wall or hardscape for shadow
- Pool/shoreline – less than 12” submerged near steps, or above, utilizing end or spaced placement
What is the Best Landscape Lighting?
Most landscape lighting today is low voltage, and with good reason. Unlike 120-volt systems, it's safer to work with and less costly to install. And though low-voltage lights receive one-tenth the power, thanks to a step-down transformer, there's no limit to the effects they can achieve, from ethereal moonlight beamed down from a tree canopy to a subtle glow that washes over a low garden wall. More than just picking the right hardware, a pleasing lighting scheme is also about artistry.
What's in a Low-Voltage Outdoor Lighting System?
Landscape lighting typically relies on stepped-down power from your house.
How far apart should outdoor lighting be?
Generally speaking, you have to plan where should outdoor landscape lights be placed. It is preferable to put your lights six to eight feet apart to ensure your pathway remains bright and well-lit.
How Much Maintenance is Required?
Keep fixtures free of leaves and debris to prevent them from overheating. Replace burned-out bulbs immediately so that others on the circuit aren't subject to life-shortening voltage overloads.
How Long Do Lighting Fixtures Last?
Warranties on fixtures and transformers range from one to 10 years, but fixtures made of brass, copper, or stainless steel should shine indefinitely.
How do I Map out a Plan for Exterior Lights?
If you don't want to lift a finger, go with a pro. (Find one through the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals. But homeowners willing to invest a little of their own time and energy can save a bundle by following the advice of Mark Piantedosi, owner of Commonwealth Landscape Lighting in Acton, Massachusetts. Here are his top design tips:
Trees
Well, bullet, or flood, and downlight.
When aiming ground lights straight up into foliage, be sure to also bathe the trunk in light. If you don't, the uplit crown will look like a hovering UFO. When illuminating foliage from above, place two 20-watt downlights as high in a tree as possible and point them so that their beams do not cross.
Planting Beds and Garden
Place fixtures no closer than 20 feet apart. "You want pools of light to guide your eye from one plant to the next, not continuous illumination."
Home Facade
Bullet and wash.
Fit bullet lights with bulbs that have 12-degree beam spreads, and aim them at the corners of your house or architectural details; softer wash lights can fill in the space between them.
Garden Walls
Well, bullet, or flood.
Position fixtures close to the base so that the beams bring textures into sharp relief.
Focal Points
Flood, bullet, or wash.
Highlight an element that deserves attention—such as a fountain, a tree swing, or an arbor—by aiming two or more lights at it. The crossing beams reduce the harsh shadows that form when only one shines on an object.
For more outdoor-lighting design ideas, visit FX Luminaire's "Learning Center" or consult the classic guide The Landscape Lighting Book, by Janet Lennox Moyer.
Types of Outdoor House Lights
Garden
Canopies on top of 18- to 24-inch posts reflect light down into planting beds. Can also be used as pathway markers. Unlike other lights, their style and finish are on display.
Wash
Throws out a soft, diffuse light ideal for brightening flat facades, privacy fences, and garden walls
Bullet
These versatile, compact fixtures are often fitted with bulbs that project a narrow beam—good for precisely lighting house features, tree trunks, and garden structures.
Well
The bulb hides inside a waterproof housing buried in the ground, so you get light without seeing a fixture. Use well lights to illuminate the underside of plant foliage or graze the base of a facade or wall. Available with either fixed or swiveling bulbs.
Downlight
These fixtures, often located high on trunks and branches, can be aimed at lawns, paths, or the tree's own foliage to create a moonlit effect. A long, cowl-shaped shroud around the bulb eliminates side glare. Choose durable copper and brass housings with LEDs—you don't want to be climbing to make repairs or replacements.
Flood
Typically casts a wider beam than a bullet—40 degrees or more—and is brighter than a wash light. A collar minimizes side glare. Use sparingly to light up tall trees or wide house facades.
More on Outdoor House Lighting:
- Transformer: Reduces 120-volt household current to a safer 12 volts.
- Bulb: Determines a light's brightness, color, and beam width, as well as electricity usage.
- Fixture Housing: Protects bulb from elements and helps shape light beam.
- Stake: Holds the fixture in place.
- Cable: Carries current to light through fixture's lead wires. Underlit trees and accent lights aimed at the facade create an inviting post-sunset atmosphere around this home.
Ready to get started? Give us a call today at 914-591-0100 and get your outdoor lighting and landscape lighting project started!
