How Can Outdoor Landscape Lighting Beautify My Yard?

You've finally finished installing your outdoor landscape lighting and now you can sit back and enjoy the peace and beauty your landscape has always possessed, day and night.

Home landscaping is a million dollar a year industry in the US alone. Unfortunately most people are not home to enjoy it throughout the day. Accent you landscape with beautifully designed landscape lighting.

8 ways Outdoor Landscape Lighting can enhance the beauty of your home.

2) Make your landscape look larger than it really is.

3) Bring your exterior space inside the home, making your interior seem larger and more expansive.

4) Make your plants and floral arrangements more inviting.

5) Help steer away potentially unwanted house guests.

6) Make hosting a party at night much more of an event.

7) Create a sense of peace in the souls of your guests by highlighting nature's beauty.

8) Use it to safely guide people through your yard and avoid injury.

Now that we've had a healthy dose of daydreaming lets get back to planet earth and get this landscape lit like a pro.

Getting to know your Landscape first

Lets remember to keep it simple and work with what we got, so lets start from the end.

Envision your landscape exactly the way you want it to look at the end of the project. Take note of all that you want people to notice and highlight it in your head.

Is there a beautiful tree that needs to be glorified? How about a sculpture or fountain that attention should be drawn to?

The easiest time to plan your outdoor lighting design is before you even start construction. If ripping everything out and starting from scratch is your cup of tea, better yet.

Brainstorm, think about what you love about your landscape and what you could do without.

Here are some great questions you can ask of yourself about your landscape before you begin :

1) Where do I want to draw people's attention?

2) Is there a primary function that regularly takes place here?

3) Is there a change in elevation?

4) What type of soil am I dealing with? Clay, silt, sand or a combination of any of these?

5) Is there an underground sprinkler system installed? If so, where is it located?

6) Where is the main electrical source located?

7) What existing structures can I use to hide lighting fixtures?

Also, there are a few options when working with outdoor lighting.

Will you be running Line Voltage or Low Voltage lighting? Line voltage means that you will be running on 120 volts or normal house current, low voltage means you will be working with anything under 50 Volts. 12 or 24 volts are very common.

Sometimes you can work with both systems, but if you have a Line Voltage system, you can use it to power multiple Low Voltage lighting.

In order to do so, you would need to install a low voltage transformer. No, not the popular cartoon. A transformer is used to change or transform the line voltage (120 volts) to low voltage (50 volts or less).

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