The Outdoor Lighting Expert on ‘Landscape Lighting Design’
By Maria Bargellini
Help is here for the do- it- your-selfers and researchers wanting to find out more about landscape lighting design. If you know what you want to light but don’t know what to use below is a short and sweet list of which fixtures to use for the most commonly illuminated areas of a home.
Lighting Trees
What to use: Well lights, Bullets, floods or tree lights
How many fixtures to use: 4-6 depending on how big the tree is, where it is, and from how many degrees you want to view it.
Plan: Typically you’ll see that most outdoor lighting designs will have 2-3 well lights on the ground illuminating the foliage and grazing the trunk and 2-3 down lights in the canopy highlighting the trunk, foliage, or other areas.
Don’t: Make the tree a lot brighter/dimmer than the rest of your design. Don’t put the lights in open grass areas. Don’t angle the lights into windows or cars
Bulb: Depending on which fixtures you buy and the wattage your using for the rest of your design. For 35-30′ trees I like to use 50 watt bulbs on the ground and 20-30 watts in the canopy.
Planting beds
What to use: Path or Area lights. If it’s a heavily trafficed area during the day consider a more stylish fixture.
How many fixtures to use: 1 every 8 – 15′ for long paths and every 4-6′ for short paths . It depends how long the path is and if there are safety concerns.
Plan: Plan to layout lights next to elevation changes (tripping hazards) first, then layout the rest of them.
Don’t: Never put them across from each other or put them to close together. Less is more.
Bulb: These type of lights typically come with or max out at 20 watts.
House
What to use: Bullets or grazers (wall washers)
How many fixtures to use: 5-8 lights
Plan: Flanking windows, by ornamental trees, or at the ends of the home are good places to start.
Don’t: Flood light into the home and don’t allow your design to be unbalanced. It doesn’t have to be symmetrical but it does have to be balanced.
Bulb: 20 -50 watts depending on the color and height of the house. Lighter house can use less wattage.
Walls, Fences etc
What to use: Well light, bullets or deck lights
How many fixtures to use: Depending on beam spread and what you’re trying to accomplish 1 fixture every 6-8′ (middle of fence panels)
Plan: If you are illuminating a fence line without any landscaping you can place them at every fence section (middle) or every other panel. If there’s landscaping forget the fence and highlight the plants.
Don’t: Light every section of fencing. if you are doing all 3 sides you can do just the corners, 3 on each side etc. Having all the panels lit will not only be a waste of money but will not be pleasing to the viewer.
Bulb: Most people use up-lights but I prefer using 10 watt deck lights, which are down lights.
Focal Points
What to use: Flood, bullet or grazer.
How many fixtures to use: 2-3 uplights, or 1 -2 grazers. Depends on how wide the item is.
How: If you cannot hide the fixture when using up-lights use down lights mounted up high instead. If you can use up-lights. make sure to cross your beams to ensure even lighting.
Don’t: Create dark spaces. Illuminate the item fully to see detail.
Bulb: Just because it’s a focal point doesn’t mean it has to have a higher wattage than the other lights in your design. Fully lighting the item should make stand out on its own.
For pictures and more information clink on these links: Alliance Fixtures Kichler Fixtures
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