Avoid These 6 Common Landscape Lighting Mistakes

If you’ve been dreaming of a beautifully illuminated home, you may have considered installing landscape lighting. However, creating the perfect landscape lighting design requires more expertise than many people think. While you could turn this into a DIY project, without a trained eye, there’s a good chance you may run into some common pitfalls. Here’s a look at six of the top lighting mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

1. Having Too Few or Too Many Fixtures

Properly designing your landscape lighting begins with choosing the right number of fixtures – and this can be a challenge. Add too many, and you’ll end up with blinding spotlights and walkways that look like airport runways. However, if you don’t add enough, you’ll have unattractive dark spots in your yard and won’t achieve the look you’re going for.

2. Choosing the Wrong Fixtures

Choosing the wrong types of landscape lights can wreak havoc on your design. Keep in mind that spotlights are great for highlighting specific features, while flood lights are best for spreading light to a wide area. Uplights nestle into the ground and cast light upward, while downlights are meant to be mounted up high so they can spill pools of light onto the ground.

You can also add path lights, garden lights, bollard lights, and more. Take your time in deciding, as making the wrong choices can leave your lighting looking messy and confused.

3. Using Inferior Products

When it comes to landscape lighting products, generally, you get what you pay for. If you purchase low-quality lighting from big box stores, you can’t expect it to last. Do yourself a favor and invest in high-quality products. This will save you the frustration of having to start replacing things a year or two after your initial installation.

4. Not Using LED Bulbs

While LED bulbs may cost a little bit more upfront, this is another investment that is definitely worth it. LED bulbs are longer lasting, use less energy, and require less maintenance. Over the long term, these benefits far outweigh the extra cost.

5. Unbalanced Lighting

When designing your landscape lighting, be sure to pay attention to balance. Consider how your home looks from the street and aim for a bit of symmetry.

While the left and right sides of the space don’t have to look identical, the themes should match. For example, if you use one method to light the trees on the right side of your yard, use the same method on the other side.

6. Over-Illumination

To create an eye-catching nighttime landscape, ideally, your lighting should be adjusted as low as possible. Consider that the light of a full moon is only 0.01 foot candles. A typical path light puts out 10 times more light than this and a spotlight projects over 100 times more. If you want your lighting to have a natural look, try to keep levels as low as you can while still meeting the security, safety, and beauty goals of your overall design.

Turn it Over to the Pros

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the details that go into a great landscape lighting design? Don’t worry! The experts at Pleasant Lightscapes are here to help. Contact us today for a no-cost consultation.