If you’ve ever arrived at a home with an under-illuminated landscape, you probably didn’t feel too welcome or safe. If you’ve ever arrived at a home with an over-illuminated landscape, you may have felt like you’re in Las Vegas—the effect is over the top and not pleasing. So how do you come to the perfect mix of safety and ambience in York and Lancaster, PA? It all comes down to the right outdoor lighting strategy.

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Safety and Security

Task #1 of any landscape lighting strategy is usually to provide a safe space for people to walk, relax, and entertain. As well, overly dark areas of the landscape—especially those closer to the home—need to feel secure. This does not mean sports stadium-intensity lighting. On the contrary, a few strategically located lights will offer ample illumination wherever you need it.

Ideally, you want to have good lighting where people park the car and walk to the front door. This could be in the form of path lighting, which uses low-lying fixtures that typically aim the light downward to prevent blinding people as they walk, and creating a safe walking surface free of harsh shadows. Avoid overhead lighting in these areas unless you are also using ground-focused lighting to prevent shadows from obscuring obstacles.

Perimeter lighting, such as a few subtle sconces on a privacy fence, can add just enough ambient light to make a backyard feel comfortable without being overly bright.

Task Lighting

If you enjoy cooking outdoors, the food prep area needs to be illuminated. If your outdoor kitchen consists of a stand-alone grill, consider adding a masonry peninsula and a backsplash where you could incorporate lighting—again, doing away with overhead lighting that will cast shadows on your food prep areas or blind your guests.

Ambience

Less tends to be more when it comes to landscape lighting. You can set the mood on your patio or pool deck with subtle lighting that’s set in masonry. This is an elegant look that also prevents cluttering up the landscape with light fixtures.

Consider placing a few (emphasis on “few”) solar-powered pathway lights “randomly” throughout the areas of the landscape close to the patio and front door, for example under shrubs or trees, to give dimension to these spaces and create a layered effect.

You could add accent lighting such as a spotlight on a favorite old tree in the front yard; a cool sculpture near the patio; the texture of a retaining wall or outdoor fireplace; or a moonlit effect where soft white light shines down from the tree canopy to create mesmerizing dancing shadows on the ground.

A Combination of Strategies

With a combination of strategies you could see the best results in terms of practicality and aesthetics. For example, the “runway” look of a walkway illuminated with pathway lights could be softened by spotlighting a tree or an interesting shrub.

A Zoned Approach

As you can see from the practical needs we’ve discussed (safety/security, task lighting, and ambience) your landscape is broken up into lighting zones based on activity. A single light fixture can put out a surprising amount of light; and when there are too many, the effect can distract from the beauty of the night. You could install motion-activated lights for security if you prefer a “dark night” atmosphere.

Our experts are here to help you figure out the best way to add safety and beauty to your landscape using outdoor lighting.

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Photo courtesy of Unilock