Ideally, your landscape lighting design should combine the practical with creativity bringing forward the qualities that make your space uniquely your own.
Lighting features should be seamlessly integrated in your property, complementing your investment by highlighting the beauty of your space. At the same time, there is an aspect of playfulness with lighting designing creating nooks that evoke mystery, intrigue and a little bit of magic. Integrate a variety of techniques to help create definition, increase security or help cultivate a particular atmosphere or mood.
Here are just a few of those techniques that can bring that beauty forward.
Love an Area of your Landscape-Uplight it!
If you’re looking at drawing attention to a particular feature or element of your landscape-then uplighting may be for you. However; how the light is shone on the structure can result in dramatically different effects.
The most common form of uplighting is highlighting- a technique used to illuminate a plant, statue, or water feature by strategically positioning two or more spotlights at the bottom of the feature and angling them upward. This method does a great job at drawing your eyes towards the feature. However; if you’re looking for a technique that is a bit more design forward than why not consider one of the following?
Silhouetting:
Instead of highlighting your structure why not play with the night time environment by creating a dramatic silhouette. This technique is done by aiming the spotlight at a point behind the sculpture (instead of in front of it). Use this method to showcase interesting plant elements in your garden, like the spiky Yucca or a sculpture with a distinctive form.
Scalloping
Is your landscape still growing? Why not try placing a spotlight in front of plant material that has a tall wall near to it? The end result will create a dramatic shadow backdrop. Similar to silhouetting, this creates an elliptical light pattern backdrop.
Try using this lighting technique on plants with delicate foliage or unique patterns to add interest to your nighttime lightscape.
Grazing:
If your landscape has a lot of rough or rugged surfaces why not try out Grazing? This lighting technique places a series of fixtures 6-8 inch from the base. The end result is an area of high contrast that plays with both shadows and lights.
Shine the Light Down on your Property
Just like its name, with Downlighting-the light is positioned above a particular feature, garden pathway, or element. This technique is used for a variety reasons including enhancing the overall atmosphere, highlighting favourite features, or simply to brighten up a space for security or to create usable spaces in the evening/later night hours.
Mimicking the Moonlight
Sometimes, an area just needs a bit of brightening. If you’re looking for a more natural lighting effect, than consider moonlighting. This method strategically positions the light source above the garden so that the light shines down through the leaves. The end result is a lightly illuminated area that adds a gentle, soft atmosphere to your evening activities. This technique works best on deciduous plants making it easy for the light to shine through their translucent leaves.
Accenting
For those clients, who want a more discrete lighting technique than accenting might the right choice for you. This method places the lighting structure above in a tree, trellis or trough instead of below the feature, creating a narrow beam of light that draws your guests’ eyes towards the highlighted feature. Similar to uplighting, accenting can be used to create a variety of effects including silhouettes and shadows.
As an FX Luminaire vendor, we are able to offer our customers a wide selection of products from their Designer Series, Standard Series, Value Line and C-Line (Contemporary Brass Line). This diverse line up provides us with the ability to tailor designs specifically to the needs of our customers.
As a final note, we at Earth Elements believes, that lighting should complement the existing environment, not obstruct it. This is why, whenever possible, we strive to use Dark Sky Friendly Techniques opting for warm lighting that minimizes glare and responds to the need of both the user and the environment.
