Blog – LED Landscape Lighting

Enjoy the warmer months of the year outdoors and increase the enjoyment and value of your property. Color! Warm, vibrant, lustrous and luscious colour. Nature is just full of it. Shape, depth, dimension, texture … nature is chock full of that too. The sun, moon and stars do a wonderful job of highlighting nature’s treasures in the environment. But what about around our home? What can we do to brighten, heighten, and extend the usefulness of our outdoor living spaces? Proper lighting can dramatically transform a space and create a mood. As with any design project, you will want to approach landscape lighting in an organised manner. You will literally be working with a dark, blank canvas. Whether your outdoor space is large or small, it is beneficial, to begin with, a drawing. It does not need to be professional draftsman quality and does not need to be exactly to scale. However, you’ll want to take measurements of the area to include on your drawing, especially if you will be sharing the information with a lighting or landscape professional. This is the perfect time of year to get started on your LED landscape lighting project. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be focusing on the topic of landscape lighting in the blog. Hopefully, you will come away with some ideas and have a general idea of how and where to begin. Whether you’re going to work with a designer or do it yourself, there are a number of questions you will need to answer before you begin. 1. How will you use the landscape at night? Is it primarily landscape that will be viewed from inside the home, or are you going to work on an area that will be used by the family for sports, dining, or other recreation? 2. What is your budget? It’s a wise idea to make a list and check it twice. What materials will you need? Who will do the installation? What is the cost involved in that? Will you need to bring in more sprinkler heads, drip lines, or electricity? Are you going to need to install walkways, pathways or decking? The more complex the project, the more you may want to consider doing it in stages so that each section when complete, provides a function or view that will look as if the job is complete even though there is more to be done. 3. Do you have a deadline? Are you planning a formal garden party for Labor Day? Make sure you have all of your materials and contractors lined up your work scheduled in plenty of time. I am not joking when I say that if you are having a Labor Day function, plan as if you are having that same function on July 4th. Things can and do happen even with the best-laid plans. 4. Think about the future. Families grow and so their needs change. The landscape also grows so you will want to think about the long-term functionality of the lighting system you choose. You may need to add or delete fixtures or move them in order to accommodate for plants growth. You may want to have fixtures that will accept lamps of different beam spread and/or wattage. You may want some coloured lighting or colour changing lighting that can be changed with the seasons. Hiring a professional landscape or lighting designer can often be well worth the investment. You may be able to avoid costly mistakes and the overall outcome can be far beyond what you’d ever imagined. Don’t hesitate to interview several contractors. Ask to see the professional portfolio. Ask about clients who have used their services in your neighbourhood. Stay tuned to this blog for more articles on LED landscape lighting throughout this month. Next time we’ll talk about defining your objectives and different techniques you should consider for your project. If you’re in the Carson City area, please stop by our retail store at 511 Fairview Drive, Carson City NV. Our helpful technical sales staff welcomes you.

By: Mary Wecker