What Are the Different Types of Landscape Lights?

For Florida residents, summer evenings provide the perfect opportunity to gather outside—whether enjoying the company of friends or just taking in the natural views. Adding some landscape lighting to your outdoor scene can add ambiance to your time outside while showing off the parts of your home and landscaping you’re most proud of. Read on to learn more about the different types of (and uses for) landscape lighting. 

Spotlights

Spotlights are some of the most versatile types of landscape lighting available. They can be pointed in any direction and are best used to illuminate focal points of your home or garden—statues or birdbaths, trees, your entryway, or noteworthy plants or rocks. You can also train spotlights to shine on a pergola or canopy to provide you with a well-lit gathering area outside. 

Spotlights are offered in a broad range of tones, brightness, and coverage areas. You can choose between warm and cool white or colored spotlights, ultra-bright or moderate, and narrow or broad—the right choice may depend on your overall lighting theme and what you’re planning to spotlight. 

Floodlights

Floodlights are similar to spotlights but provide a much broader coverage area. They’re designed to cover a wide area and are most comparable to baseball or tennis court lights. Floodlights are often used to brighten driveways, patios, and other large areas.

Step Lights

If you have steps, retaining walls, or fencing in your yard, step lights can shine down to provide broad illumination in a small package. These versatile lights can be installed on walls, stair faces, or just about any other vertical surface. And because most step lights have a horizontal face that’s broad enough to fit a solar panel, you can choose solar-powered lights to provide hours of illumination each evening without increasing your energy bill.

Garden Lights

As the name implies, these lights are designed to show off your most impressive plants. Garden lights have a soft glow that helps your plants look their best while still providing plenty of ambient light. These lights generally angle downward so it’s easy to admire your garden without staring directly into a bright bulb. 

Bollard Lights

This type of landscape lighting features unshielded lights on the top of a post or pole. Bollard lights shine brightly outward and can provide good security lighting. (If you live near other houses, it’s important to make sure your Bollard lights aren’t shining into any neighbors’ windows—they can be bright!) 

String Lights

String lights are an inexpensive way to add a bit of whimsy to your outdoor living area. These lights can be taped or stapled to a wall, strung on a pergola or canopy, or attached to gutters like holiday lights. Because string lights use so little energy, they’re often available in solar, battery-powered, and electric versions.

String lights aren’t generally bright or strong enough to provide full-scale illumination, but when combined with other types of landscape lighting, they provide a subtle and flattering glow.

If you’re ready to bring your landscape lighting to the next level, look no further than Pleasant Lightscapes. Serving Bradenton and surrounding areas, we’ll work with you to find the best design for your home.