Lighting is an often overlooked part of landscape design, but can greatly expand the amount of use that you get out of your outdoor spaces by allowing you to stay outdoors even after dark. Further, lighting can provide additional safety to your home and landscape by making falls while walking around in the dark less likely, while also discouraging intruders from sneaking around your property. There are several different types of landscaping lighting installations, each of which is slightly different from one another. Understanding what each type of lighting has to offer your landscape can help you choose the best one for your needs.

Path Lights

Path lights, as their name would indicate, are designed to provide a small amount of light low to the ground to make it easier for you to see a walking path. They are designed for use around the edges of hardscaping surfaces and tend to be relatively low profile so as to not be noticeable during the daytime. They are also well suited for installation around pool patios, since they can make it easier for you to see where the pool begins and can make accidental falls much less likely.

Up Lights

Up lights are a type of landscaping light that are angled upwards, and are used to shine light on trees or the side of a structure for illumination. They work well during the winter months, when they can be used to highlight decorated trees in your yard, but are used year round to highlight specific areas of your yard. Up lights can be used to cast a shadow onto a wall – having a covering on your lights can project vines or stars, for instance.

Downlights

Downlights are the polar opposite of up lights – hence the creative naming convention. They are installed within trees, on top of structures, or on some other elevated surface and shine downwards much like a spotlight to provide light for a broad area. They are best used for larger landscapes that would otherwise find it cost prohibitive to have multiple smaller lighting installations installed to cover the entire area.

Hanging Lights

Sometimes also called fairy lights, hanging lights are usually strewn across trellises, vines or tree branches and hang downwards. If you are able to install LED versions of hanging lights, they can illuminate large portions of your yard, and are well suited for installation over patios and other outdoor entertaining spaces, because they can allow you to stay outdoors well into the night.

Contact a service, like W.H. Boyer, Inc., for more help.