Start with what you want to see
Landscape lighting puts light on the ground level of a property: paths, plantings, trees, steps and the walk up to the front door. Done well, you notice the yard and not the fixtures. Done badly, it looks like an airport runway down the driveway.
What usually gets lit
Path lighting comes first for most properties, since walking to the door in the
https://evercrestlighting.com/ dark is the daily problem. A well placed uplight keeps the yard from going flat and black at nine at night. Beds, stairs, retaining walls and the driveway round it out, and some of that is safety more than style.
The other outdoor lighting people ask about
The request is rarely just one type of lighting. Patio lighting makes the back of the house usable after dinner. Security lighting deals with the corners of the lot, which is a different goal from the pretty work. Accent lighting highlights the parts of the house or yard worth a second look.
What to avoid
More light is not 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 the path lights blind you instead of showing the path. The third is forgetting that plants grow, since the bed in front of a fixture fills in.
Businesses and communities
Businesses use the same tools for different reasons. A restaurant patio has to be comfortable to sit in after dark. Parking and walkways are a footing and visibility question. A neighborhood entrance is about the first impression of the whole community, which is why entrances get lit carefully.
How they work as one design
The two do different jobs and look better together. Roofline light gives the house a shape after dark, and landscape light gives the ground in front of it depth.Doing them at the same time beats adding one to the other later. If the budget has to be split, ask which half does more for your property, and it is not always the roofline.Unlike a roofline system, ground level fixtures shift. Fixtures shift over time, plantings grow up in front of them, and aiming drifts. Once a year somebody should re aim what has drifted, which takes very little time and makes an obvious difference.
Where to go from here
The plan comes from walking the property, not picked from a page. EverCrest Lighting does landscape lighting installation along with patio, accent, security and permanent roofline lighting for homes and businesses. They are based in Greenville, South Carolina and serve Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. The consultation is free and the design is drawn for your property. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].