Guide To Tree Lighting

Incorporating tree lighting into your overall landscape lighting design can enhance the natural beauty of your space. There are several different approaches and techniques you can use to create visual appeal. These five tips will help you achieve the elegant nighttime experience you’ve been dreaming of.

1. Choose the Right Type of Lighting

No two trees are the same, so don’t make the mistake of using the same lighting techniques. While smaller trees usually benefit from a softer light source, large trees may require stronger lighting and/or multiple fixtures.

Trees with more of an open structure often look best when lit from the base, since this illuminates the interior branches. When lighting denser trees, consider aiming the lamps outside the canopy, as this will allow the light to shine across a larger area of the tree.

2. Find Your Flow

If a few lighted trees look good, then lighting them all should look even better… right? That’s a big no! When it comes to landscape lighting, sometimes less is more. Remember that if you light up everything, nothing stands out or looks special. So choose a few statement areas to highlight instead.

When you’re looking for places to install landscape lighting, it’s also important to take a step back and look at the overall space. To create balance, aim to illuminate areas that will create a flow and help set the scene.

3. Stay Off the Beaten Path

As you place your landscape lighting, be sure to put the lamps in inconspicuous places away from the paths where people commonly walk. Also, try to keep them out of the way of areas where you use lawn mowers, edgers, and other equipment. Otherwise, you’ll eventually end up damaging your fixtures.

You’ll also need to plan out the path you’ll use to get your wiring to your power sources. For safety reasons, plan to bury all of the wires at least six inches underground.

4. Say No to Solar

While you may be tempted to use inexpensive solar lamps for your tree lighting, this is a mistake. They simply don’t create the same impact as hard-wired lighting, and most aren’t built to last. If budget is a concern, remember that you can start with lighting just a few trees and still make an impact. If you want to do more, you can always add additional fixtures in the future.

5. Turn it Over to the Pros

Lighting trees properly can be a bit trickier than it looks. There’s a lot of design and expertise that goes into selecting the right lights and placing them in the right places.

If you’re not sure about your skills, consider hiring a professional. You may be surprised to learn that hiring a great landscape lighting company is more affordable than you think. Contact us today to request a free consultation and demo.