A garden’s beauty shouldn’t disappear with the daylight. By adding outdoor lighting to your beautiful garden features, you can create a beautiful ambiance that can be enjoyed at any hour. 

Designing Garden Lighting For Aesthetics

Since all gardens are unique in their beauty, garden lighting is a type of landscape lighting design that offers designers the most creative options. Garden lighting consists of an array of options that all create different lighting effects. A few options being: 

  • Moonlighting: Moonlighting is placed in tall trees or objects and is projected downwards, creating an effect similar to moonlight. 
  • Underwater lighting: Lighting that can be fully submerged in water is perfect for fountains, pools, or waterfalls. There are several types of underwater lighting, that all have a uniquely beautiful lighting effect.
  • Uplighting: Upward facing lighting that is used to make trees or large shrubs appear more dramatic.
  • Silhouette lighting: Silhouette lighting should be placed hidden, beneath the source that you want to highlight. The direction that the light is facing will create the main vantage point.
  • Shadow lighting: Shadow lighting creates the opposite effect as silhouette lighting. In this technique, lighting is projected towards a garden feature so that it creates a shadow on a wall or backdrop.
  • Graze lighting: Grazing is perfect for gardens with several hardscape features. In this technique, the garden lighting is placed close to a textured wall, with the light facing up or down. This method creates an elegant effect that accentuates textured walls.
  • Wash lighting: Wash lighting is perfect for providing ample light while still creating a peaceful ambiance. Wash lights use wide-beamed lights so that light is evenly projected across a large surface.

Garden lighting highlights ivy growing on the wall of a house.

The ideal landscape lighting design weaves different types of garden lighting fixtures, to create a dramatic, yet elegant effect. Only a team of experienced landscape lighting designers will know the precise location and angle that will best highlight your favorite garden features. 

Designing For The Technical Layout

The aspect of landscape lighting design that is often overlooked is designing for the technical layout — in other words, making sure that all of your lights work safely and efficiently. 

Most people opt for an electrical LED garden lighting system due to their efficiency and modern look. With an electrical lighting system, the lights need to all be connected to a mainline or a transformer that provides a 12V or 24V electrical current.

Garden lighting illuminates water feature for safe navigation of the area.

A qualified electrician must install the electrical waterproof socket to the outside of your building wall. It is recommended to use a lower-voltage current since it is more energy-efficient and safer to install. It is important that all electrical wiring is hidden both for safety and aesthetic concerns.

Due to the complexity of a large landscape lighting layout, it is highly recommended to use a professional lighting service to install your garden lighting fixtures. This ensures that it is done so safely, efficiently, and with a professional eye. Set up a free consultation with Houston Lightscapes today. 

 

The team at Houston Lightscapes takes pride in their many years of experience in the landscape lighting industry. They've been serving the greater Houston area for over 30 years bringing innovation and elegance to their designs. Learn more about Houston Lightscapes here.