Outdoor Lighting Plan 3 Principles to Know

By: Hogan Hererion

A good outdoor lighting plan needs to be beautiful and useful, while staying away from being a nuisance to the neighborhood. There are a few simple points to consider while creating your outdoor light plan that will keep you and the neighbors happy.

One thing I recommend is that you study natural light or sunlight and how it looks in your outdoor room. When I say study I mean actually just walk around the yard in the daylight. You need to look in the morning when the lights not so bright as well as at sunset. See what plants in your landscape look like when the sun hits it, how it silhouettes or cast a shadow against the side of your home at sunset. Make note of how the sun shines down onto your plantings, reflects off of the water onto a wall and draws the eyes to the wall - our home interior lights and our outdoor lighting system are imitations of sunlight. So use the daylight as your cheat sheet to creating your outdoor lighting plan, it is cheap and easy.

1. Do Not Overlight

Lighting is one of those things that very much comes under the less is more category. The right light producing just the right quantity of light is what you're looking for in your outdoor lighting plan. To create subtle beautiful effects less light is your best tool. Simply said this means placing the right kind of light in the appropriate place and above all avoiding glare, is what you are looking for in a subject emphasized with a light. Be sure to use the right techniques, with the right sized fixtures, and lamps that reflect the scale of your yard. You should use low-voltage light fixtures for small patio gardens and larger higher output lights for bigger yards.

2. Plants and Landscape Fixture Reflect Light

All of your backyard landscape features such as a patio, a fence, or your plantings each have a level of reflectance, depending on their texture and color. A plants light reflectance is also dependent on the openness of its branches or leaf system. Landscape features and plants with a rather high reflectance can be brilliant when light hits them. On the other hand you will have plants that absorb light so a higher level of light will be needed to make them stand out if you want them to be seen at night.

3. Use One Type of Lamp

All lamps give off a particular color rendering at different intensity levels. You will need to decide which lamp is best for your outdoor lighting plan and then use it as your primary lamp for your entire backyard lighting system. You do not want to mix them up to much because your plan will look like a non-plan due to the chaotic look the lights will give off. Many times you will be using the low-voltage incandescent bulb, or maybe even a mercury vapor when doing moonlighting effects. There will be times when you will want to use a couple of contrasting types of plants to emphasize a certain feature or particular focal point in your backyard. Just try to keep them to a minimum.

Just keep these three principles in mind when developing your outdoor lighting plan. It may sound daunting but it's not quite as complicated as you may think. Just do a little research online, maybe ask a few questions at your local home garden center and you will be good to go.