How to Design Landscape Lighting

Planning your landscape lighting design, step by step

Anyone can put together an effective landscape design with the right planning. Here’s a step-by-step process you can follow to figure out how to highlight the things you love about your home’s exterior.

1. Map out your property.

The first step in designing landscape lighting is to map out your property carefully. Include as much detail as you can: trees, pathways, flower beds, rock features, and features on your home itself. Think about the areas that you really want to highlight.

2. Consider the different types of outdoor lighting.

There are a few main types of outdoor lighting, and understanding the purpose of each can help you find the best type for your purposes. Here are some of the most common options:

• Garden lights. Garden lights are typically mounted on short posts, but they can be up to 2 feet tall. Shorter varieties of these lights are ideal for marking out pathways and highlighting the edges of garden beds, while taller versions can be used to illuminate small areas of garden beds. These lights offer a subtle, welcoming glow and come in many designs, so you can choose something that blends in or adds a decorative touch. They are the only type of outdoor lighting with a light source designed to be seen, and they offer different lighting effects and patterns that can add interest to your design.
• Bullet lights. These lights are compact with narrow beams that are ideal for highlighting precise details or adding dramatic flair. They add contrast and depth to any design, and they can be a good choice for hardscape lighting, too.
• Downlights are usually mounted high and feature a long shroud around the bulb to focus light and prevent glare. They’re a good choice for illuminating paths or walkways and can create interesting effects when mounted in a tree to illuminate foliage from above.
• Flood lights. Flood lights cast a wide beam spread and are used to illuminate large areas.
• Wash lights. These lights got their name because they produce a gentle, even beam that feels warm and welcoming without being too harsh or highlighting any single feature. They’re similar to flood lights but not nearly as bright. Commonly used to light walls and fences, these lights are a good choice if you want subtle illumination over a large surface.
• Well lights. As the name implies, well lights are installed in the ground so that the fixtures themselves remain invisible. They produce wide beams of light, ideal for uplighting trees and foliage or illuminating the bottom of walls or fences.

There are some special types of lighting, too. For example, you may need water feature lighting for a pond or fountain, or deck lighting and step lighting if you have any decking or stairs you want to illuminate.

3. Use a carefully placed combination of different types of light to add interest and depth.

You don’t want to just aim a spotlight at the things you like. Instead, mix it up a little. For example, you can use focused bullet lights as accent lighting to highlight architectural details, then fill in the spaces between with softer wash lights for wide, even illumination.

You should also consider using lights with varying brightnesses to add interest and ensure you get the brightness you need for the intended purpose. To do this, you’ll look for the number of lumens. For example, generally, pathway lighting should be around 100 to 200 lumens output, while flood lighting can be anywhere from 700 to 1300 lumens.

4. Add more interest and variation by illuminating plants and trees.

For tree lighting, use uplights, that is, lights that are placed on the ground and are directed upward. Make sure you choose a light powerful enough to illuminate both the trunk and the canopy for the best results.

In garden beds or for groups of low plants, use lights that create wider, more evenly distributed pools of light to help guide the eye across the bed from one plant to the next.

Hardwired or plug-in lighting?

Whether you use a hardwired or plug-in system is a personal decision, but there are several factors to consider. Both have their pros and cons, but for a complex, large, or customized setup, hardwired is typically a better option for several reasons.

First, hardwired lighting connects directly to your home’s electrical system, so you can turn it on with the flick of a switch or integrate it into a smart home setup to turn it on automatically. While plug-in lighting is limited to areas that are within reach of a power outlet, hardwired lighting can be installed anywhere. One downside is that a hardwired setup is more costly to install, but it’s generally maintenance-free, since the wires are buried, and it lasts a really long time.

Tips to keep in mind when planning landscape lighting

Here are some general tips to keep in mind when planning your exterior lighting setup.

• The goal with these landscaping lighting techniques is to guide the eye from one feature to the next, so leave a bit of space between each light to avoid flooding the visual space with continuous illumination.
• When illuminating trees, use two 20-watt uplights for trees that are under 20 feet tall; for taller trees, use three to five 35- or 50-watt uplights.
• Go with LED landscape lights over halogen. LED lights have many benefits; they last longer, are more energy-efficient, and are more resistant to damage than halogen lighting. LED bulbs are more expensive initially, but they will save you money over time.
• There is no right or wrong choice when it comes to color temperature, but there are some things to consider. Color temperature is measured in Kelvins (K). If you want warm LED lights that mimic halogen lighting, choose bulbs around 3,000 K. Anything above 4,000 K will produce a brighter light that can appear harsh, resembling moonlight.

What about installing landscape lighting? Consider working with a professional

Landscape lighting installation can be challenging, especially if you don’t have electrical experience. It’s best to work with a professional landscape lighting contractor, especially if you have a large or complex design with many different elements or if you’re dealing with rugged or otherwise difficult terrain.

There are various benefits to working with professional installers. Not only can they help ensure that all local codes are met, but they can also help with lighting design ideas, too. Plus, when you work with an authorized dealer, you can rest assured that you’re getting genuine products that are covered under the manufacturer’s warranty, installed by a team that knows the products well.