landscape design
Tips for Lighting Up Front Yard Landscape Design
Outdoor lighting added to your front yard landscape design plan is an element that should not be forgotten. There are countless lighting features you can purchase from the local building supply stores or online, but what fixtures will light the areas you want can be confusing. A flood light pointed in the wrong position can be blinding to invited guest or neighboring homes. Over lighting a small specimen tree or under lighting a large tree will look unprofessional.In garden lighting, the effect will seem most natural when it imitates nature.
Illuminate focal points and safety hazards more brightly than less important areas. If your street is lit by street lights, you may not need much lighting. If there are no streetlights, provide some soft lights for the driveway. Remember to avoid bare lamps at eye level and other sources of glare. Moonlighting (lights placed high in the trees) can provide the soft lighting needed for this situation. Lighting at the garage door and parking areas is critical to the safety and security of homeowners.
Make sure to hide the source of the light, it will look much more natural… remember the light should be seen not the fixture. You can hide the fixture high above the ground or use several smaller lights rather than one large bright light.
Your lighting will be more attractive if you combine several techniques in the garden. For example, you might use moonlighting from tall trees as the main light source, then add occasional accent lighting from low fixtures, and decorative area lighting for the entrance of the home.