How We Design Landscape Lighting Systems

by Ben Bowen

What do you want out of landscape lighting? You want it to look beautiful and maybe make your house a bit safer and more secure. It’s not rocket surgery.

But how does it get there? Not by accident, but by design. Each one of the lighting systems we install is unique, but there are a number of principles that guide their design.

Our Landscape Lighting Design Principles:

Start with focal points. Your garden has features and views that are worth highlighting. Your garden has elements that will work well with light. Our job is to determine which of these should be featured and then what kind of light will be most effective. Trees and boulders are often the most obvious candidates, but walls, hedges, water features, and statuary are considered as well.

I will not usually light the home itself. Why not? When you are approaching a home at night the light from the windows beckons you inside. The light on the paths and at the front door show the way. If you are enjoying the night in a backyard gathering space, part of the appeal is the feeling of “separateness” these outdoor spaces offer- especially at night. Unfortunately, for most homes, lighting the home itself undermines the whole feeling we are trying to create.

Light the way. Paths and walkways are made safer and more welcoming by path lighting. We alternate sides, spacing lights so that their is darker space between each fixture. In most cases the goal is to guide your eye down the path, not to illuminate each step or inch of the way.

Add depth. Large properties shrink at night, as you lose everything not caught by light from the windows. Casting light up into the canopy of big trees that are deeper into your property will create a gentle effect that might not even register as “lighting”. Done well, some properties begin to feel larger at night than in the day.

Keep it simple. There are many kinds of LED landscape lighting fixtures and many ways to use them. But in most cases all that is needed are simple spot lights and path lights. Well lights and underwater lights have their uses as well. Very rarely is anything else needed. Simple systems have the added benefit of being easy to use and care for.

Too few fixtures is better than too many. Many landscape lighting companies essentially price their systems “per fixture”, with some adjustment for site particulars. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that many lighting systems have way too many fixtures. It is much better to use just enough lights, especially since it is so easy to add them if needed.

If our design principles make sense to you, consider scheduling a free landscape lighting consultation with our designer, Ben Bowen.