What can outdoor tree lighting do for my outdoor environment?Your trees are a major addition to your outdoor lighting environment. Outdoor tree lighting is truly one of the most unique ways of bringing attention to your outdoors. Trees can be used as a centerpiece in your landscape, used to add depth into your design, or as a tool to help focus more attention to other parts of your landscape.
What you should know before begining your outdoor tree lighting taskWhen deciding to light a tree, many factors come into play. You need to assess the tree's size, structure, shape, texture, and position. Planning which trees you want to light is a key ingredient in your quest for perfection in outdoor tree lighting.You want to choose a tree that is structurally sound and undamaged. Besides, who really wants to look at a tree at night if its all busted up? So pick the trees that are free of structural defects or ones that just look good. Always be flexible with the amount of light needed for outdoor tree lighting. Adjustments are common and you may need to adjust the amount of light output to your specific circumstances. Stake mounted lighting fixtures and flush mounted fixtures are the most common fixtures used in tree lighting. Stake mounted fixtures are the most economical and flexible but are easily moved out of position. Flush mounted fixtures are not as flexible but won't be moved or damaged by kids or gardeners easily. Distance from a tree's viewing angle is very important. You must decide at what distance and angle people will be viewing this tree. Tree's farther away will need to be lit more brightly than ones that are positioned closer to the viewing recipient so that they aren't faded out in the distance. Lighter colored trees and foliage will reflect light much easier than darker colored ones so low voltage lighting may provide adequate light. Darker colored foliage requires much more light because more of light projected onto the tree's foliage will get absorbed by the tree's darker color. When uplighting a tree, a tree's shape and density should be heavily considered. Uplighting a tree with a dense canopy wouldn't be too effective if the light is obstructed and can't flow up into the tree. Instead, denser trees should be lit from the outside of its canopy. A tree with an open structural design or one with a less dense canopy can be uplit through the base of the tree without any problem of light being trapped within the it's canopy. Larger trees may be too large to accommodate low voltage lighting. Line voltage lighting may be necessary to get the full effect of lighting larger more mature trees. Metal halide lamps provide an energy efficient and long lasting solution for lighting mature trees. Having fun with outdoor tree lightingLighting smaller trees can be a fun way to add a creative flare to your outdoors. For trees positioned against a wall backdrop, place a fixture in front of a it to create a shadow effect to add an interesting design to a plain wall background.Place a fixture in front of a wall and graze it's surface with light. Position interesting plants and trees in front of the light fixture to create a cool silhouette effect of those plants and trees. Tree lighting is not limited to only lighting trees. Use trees to light your surrounding gardens or patio. Place fixtures in a trees branches to downlight the surfaces below and create a subtle moonlighting effect. Think about seasonal changes and how you can use outdoor tree lighting to create dramatic shadow effects on the surfaces below. Have fun with it, make it your own, and share any new ideas with us. We are always up to hear from you. Return from Outdoor Tree Lighting to Creative Outdoor Lighting
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