Landscape Lighting Guide

Landscape lighting is simply lighting used to illuminate different sections of a landscape, yard, garden or other area surrounding a home or business. This can be as simple as a front porch light, or something more complicated such as a network of path lights, spotlights, and water lights. Regardless of the complexity or variation, lighting up your landscape with thoughtfully placed illumination sources can add great visual value to your landscaping and garden furniture.

Landscape lighting can be broken into 5 basic categories: Path Lighting, Deck Lighting, Accent/Spotlighting, Specialty/Decorative Lighting, and Water Lighting. This article will help you understand each category, as well as a few other main points to help you understand landscape lighting.

A common item along pathways, these lights are position low to the ground to provide illumination on a surface.  The basic shape is a post with a shade covered lighting unit at he top.  The shade directs lighting towards the ground, illuminating a spread out area from the center.  They are normally between 6 inches and 24 inches.  The cost varies greatly, from under $10 a light to $30+ a light.  The cost relates to materials used, features, and quality. 

Other names for path lights include:
-    Garden Lights: Smaller, intended to illuminate smaller, separate areas
-    Pagodas: A very specific type of path light, with a unique shape, featuring several shades
-    Post Lighting: Larger version of Path Lights, featuring a wider area of lighting.
-    Bollards:  A post that features the light built into the post without having a shade.

Deck Lights help to give needed light to a deck, veranda, or patio. They include sconces for the wall illumination and flood lights (more in Spot Lighting below). The main source is to provide a light over a wide area. The lighting can be direct (flood lights), diffused (wall sconce), or indirect (rope lights under a railing). The costs range dramatically, from under $10 to $100+. The prices vary so much due to the variations of lights included in deck lighting.

Common Deck Lighting Variations:
-    Sconce: Single bulb light source fastened to a wall, typically near a door.  Provides diffused lighting
-    Flood Light: Similar to a spot light, but provides a less intense direct light
-    Rope Lights: Lights encased in plastic tubes that can be run under or around things.  They are commonly placed under railings, overhangs, or umbrellas.
-    Step Lights: These are recessed lights on stairs and ledges providing light in these typically dark places

Water Lighting is made specifically fore use in an underwater application.  They have water proof systems that can provide lighting in wet environments.  Common uses are spotlights within fountain features, waterfall lights, pond lights, and pool, hot tub and Jacuzzi lights.

Accent Lights provide lighting for a landscape, such as illuminating a specific landscape feature with direct light.  Spotlights are very similar to accent lights, except they provide a larger, more easily discernable light direct light source.  Spotlights are used to illuminate large landscape features, such as statues, sculptures, fountains, and building features.  They both can be adjusted to point in nearly any direction.  They range in size from small to large, and price from under $5 to $30+ (prices can be much higher for large spotlights).

Spotlights an also be used to provide lighting for a large area, such as a patio, driveway, parking lot, or porch.  Floodlights are spotlights that don’t have a restrictive casing on them.  The lack of casing allows for light to be dispersed over a wider area.  These are very common for deck lighting as well as for hooking to motion detector or security systems.  They are also typically connected to back up power generators, both in and outside, for instances of power outage or emergencies.

Specialty Lighting and Decorative Lighting provides lighting for a specific, but unique need.  Many of them are simply for decoration, such as statues that illuminate or chandeliers that have “candles” illuminated by electric lights.  There are numerous variations of specialty and decorative lights.  The most common are chandeliers, pendant lights or barbecue lights.  Prices and sizes vary dramatically from variation to variation.

Solar lighting is extremely popular for path lights.  Many units have a built in solar cell panel on the top to charge during the day, and then the light is run off the charge at night.  These lights are frequently made with LED lights with provide a lot of light for very little electricity usage. 

Many landscape lights are intended to be plugged into a normal household socket. This allows people with little to no electrical installation knowledge install landscape lights using some extension cords and an electrical outlet. Spotlights, accent lights, and rope lights are commonly used with extension cords. These are easy to install, as long as you follow all safety precautions suggested by the product, and have a few landscape tools to complete the guide.

Solar Lights are easy to install. All you need to do is prep the area where the light will go. The light does not have to have direct sunlight all day, but is should not be in full shade. Since the solar panels are on top, you should not use a hammer to tap the light into the ground. Try digging a small hole for the light post to fit in, and then backfill with dirt. Make sure to pack the dirt in the hold tightly, and press down to ensure it stays in place.

If you are installing lights that require hardwiring, or wiring into the electrical system, you have them done by a professional electrician. Experimenting with electrical systems is incredibly dangerous, and can cause severe injury and death. An electrician can safely install these lights, and make sure they are set up properly. Improper set up of lights can also cause harm, which is further support for having an electrician install. Hardwiring lights can give your landscape that ultimate professional look. It can also give you the ability to switch on and off sections with a switch, instead of having to track cords to where they plug into a power source.