Add Value to Homes with 11 Types of LED Landscape Lighting

LED landscape lighting can beautifully transform your gardens and take your yard from basic to bling in a minute. But, before you upgrade your outdoor lighting system, you need to have a proper lighting plan. Often in order to create drama and intrigue in a well-lit space you need the perfect interplay of light and shade. Here are 11 landscape lighting ideas which will help you to highlight the best features of your garden.  

1. Up for up lighting? 

Although up lighting is known as one of the basic forms in landscape lighting design, it can create a lot of beautiful diversions in your garden. Taller structures like trees are best illuminated with this technique. If you want to accent specific features of trees in your yard, the up-lighting system is the best solution. Mount a floodlight or a spotlight on the ground for accentuating the tree trunk or the underside of tree’s canopy.  

2. The adorable effects of moon lighting 

If you have larger trees in your garden, they can be best highlighted with moon lighting or alternatively known as down lighting. In this kind of lighting technique, the light fixture is placed high up on the tree. But the light is aimed down which illuminates the branches and the ground below with light. This type of light creates an impressive effect on an open-branched tree. 

3. Silhouetting the architectural features 

Often the dramatic accents of your garden remain hidden in broad daylight. With silhouetting you can highlight these shapes and create a fantastic effect. With this kind of accent lighting, you just need to put the light behind the specific item and create a vantage point. Even though spaces are illuminated, the light source should always remain invisible. 

4. Effective cross lighting for outdoors 

When you want to create a soft shadowy effect with landscape lighting, think about cross lighting. The horizontally positioned lights on the ground are placed in precise positions to create texture and depth. As the light beams blend with the evening shadows, they create a crisscross illusion and a magnificent display, something that will make your gardens stand out.  

5. Impact of shadowing with LED landscape lighting 

Known as the reverse technique of silhouetting, the LED garden lights are placed between the garden accent and the main vantage point in shadowing. The source of light should be aimed at the accent piece. When you have a flat surface like a wall behind the accent piece, the effects are more vivid. You will love the soft moody effect of shadowing in your outdoor landscape. Some of the commonly used lights in shadowing are flood, well and spotlights.  

6. The grazing effects of LED landscape lighting 

When most of your garden boasts of hardscape, the grazing technique can work beautifully for your outdoors. In this design, the lights are placed close to hard surfaces which creates an interplay of light and shadow. The grazing effect can be displayed either in upward or downward movement. It is the texture of the surface which determines the grazing effect. The lighting technique works best if you have an irregular or uneven pattern.  

7. The awesome path lighting technique 

You can reinvent the concept of security lights with innovative path lights. Light up your driveways and paths with different lighting fixtures of varied shapes and styles. These will not only beautify your outdoors but will make your perimeters more secured. These lights will also help to prevent accidents along the pathways. 

8. Light washing technique for your gardens 

If you are keen on ambient lights, you may consider the light ‘washing’ technique. You can flood a hedge or a wall with light so that the space looks well-lit. Go for a wide-beamed light which can be placed between the wall surface and main vantage point. The entire area will be flooded with light, but the effects will not be overwhelming. 

9. Step up with step lighting system 

When you desire soft illumination without a glare, think about small fixtures in the form of step lights. They are placed in such a manner that they cast a shielded light across decks and steps. Although very similar to path lights, the step lights allow you to figure out any obstructions on the way. Choose small step lights to create concentrated illumination in specific areas.  

10.Accentuate your outdoors with accent lights 

Known as spot lighting, this form of LED landscape lighting is a step ahead of security lights. When you want to highlight a particular feature of your garden like a statue, signage or a sculpture, you can use the accent lights. These types of lights are more directed towards the specifics of a garden. These are particularly useful in showcasing separate elements of a garden.   

11. Add style with layered lighting 

When you add highs and lows to your lighting plan, they add drama to your outdoors creating a layered effect. Layered lighting is crucial for creating the right ambience for different situations. You can either put different lights in one circuit. Or you can take help of specific controls and dimmers to create different light settings for an outdoor environment. 

You can be as much creative as possible with layered lighting. Connect step lights to motion sensors so that stairs would illuminate with every ascent. Or arrange for preset levels of LED landscape lighting in the patio for evening festivities.  

Why LED landscape lighting is a good choice for outdoors? 

Switch to LED landscape lighting as they are less expensive compared to traditional light bulbs. An LED lighting system can have a lifespan of 25,000 hours or more. LED lights require less maintenance and can survive years of use.  

You will save a lot of money in the long run if you switch to LED landscape lighting. Although the upfront expenses are more, LED lights are more energy-efficient in the long run. You will notice a reduction in your energy bills by more than 80% once you install them.  

Both halogen bulbs and incandescent lights produce a lot of heat. On any property, this can enhance the risk of fire if there are inflammable products or dry leaves. In case of LED lighting system, the amount of wasted heat will be less. To conserve more energy, you can also switch to solar landscape lighting, if only your property receives a fair amount of sunlight. 

Why not increase your property’s green appeal by making an intelligent switch to sustainable LED lights? By installing LED lights, you are directly contributing to the energy conservation movement. As LED lights are known for their potential to save more energy, they are environment friendly. Unlike traditional lights which have filaments, LED lights have a solid structure which can not only withstand shock, but do not damage easily. 

Pro tip for the homeowners: 

• Have an extra-large tree in your property which deserves special treatment? 
• Combine the spotlight and moonlight effect by putting two spotlights halfway through the trunk.  
• Aim one light up and the other light down to create a diverse effect.  

• The foliage will hide the light sources beautifully, but the illumination will create a dramatic effect. 
• Hire an AATB expert to know more about LED landscape lighting. 

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