What a glorious time of year. Stouffville itself seems to be shining as bright as the sun in the sky, and its brightness is reflected on the attitudes of its people. All around Stouffville all one has to do is open their eyes to see how summer is effecting everyone. People are joyous, they walk outside freely taking in both the beautiful weather and the summer air. Greens, blues and bright colours fill the eyes with a glory unknown to any other season except for summer. It is quite the time to be alive people of Stouffville, quite the time indeed.
While the day during the summer can certainly be filled with joy, there is one underrated part of the season that people seem to forget. Sure, one can do their activities in the daytime, but there is a certain magic to summer nights that just seems to put everyone at ease. It is a time where the heat of the day is put aside and replaced with a certain coolness, a slight breeze that caresses the skin, soothing it after a long day of being beaten by the sun’s rays. The night is when the world stops turning for a moment, so that we all can truly take a breath. A breath we can use to take in the summer as it is, a breath we can use to feel its presence, a breath we can use to finally calm down.
Here is one of the issues with night, however. This may come as a surprise, but night tends to be dark. It doesn’t matter where one is in the world – wether it be Stouffville, Ontario or anywhere else, one is going to experience dark in the night. So, how does one remedy this piercing dark? There are a couple of ways (including an outdoor fire pit, which is something we have covered on this website before) but today we’re going to talk about landscape lighting.
Perhaps this is something that isn’t new, perhaps it’s something that all denizens of Stouffville can be found doing. However, it is important to get some lighting in order to pierce the nasty dark. Today, we’re going to explore some types of lighting for a backyard, but also some different designs one can do in order to bring some light to their backyard. Without further ado, let us explore the world of landscape lighting.
What Are The Best Type Of Lights For Landscape Lighting?
In short – the best lights for landscape lighting tend to be ones that have low voltage. Why are low voltage lights the best for landscape lighting? To be honest, because they tend to be safer to work with and they are much easier to install. Not only that, but low voltage lights are going to achieve everything that the average homeowner, landscaper or gardener is going to want in their garden.
Where are the best places and lights for landscape lighting?
This is going to be depend on what the homeowner, landscaper or gardeners property looks like, however there are some general ideas that we can go for in order to achieve some decent landscape lighting.
The Wash
This light is going to do exactly what it says in the name – it’s going to wash an area with light. As for where it should go, these wash lights tend to be best in places with flat surfaces. In short, these would go great around flat facades, privacy fences, and garden walls.
The Bullet
Like a bullet, these lights are going to go to an area specifically in a straight line. These lights are best for lighting up places that need to be accented – house features, tree trunks and garden structures are all accented really well by bullet lighting.
The Well
Much in the same vein as a well, these lights are going to be buried underground. From the ground, these lights are going to burst upwards with light, surrounding the nearby area. The best place to put these lights are the underside of plants, or perhaps even to graze the underside of a wall. We love them best when they’re coming up underneath plants, they look great in the night.
The Downlight
The opposite of the well, this light is going to shoot light down into the garden or property (hence the name). These tend to hang off of branches or other high places, and are great for illumination. Things like pathways, lawns or the trees themselves benefit greatly from having dowlights.
The Flood Light
If the wash is going to wash an area with light, then the flood light is going to flood that same area with light. Place these lights in areas that need a lot of it.
Some quick design tips:
Garden Beds. We don’t want to completely flood these with light. These can really benefit from some well lights, as we don’t want to see the garden as a whole. We want the lights to guide us from one plant to their other. We want to create a journey through the garden, we don’t want to take it all in at once.
Trees. There is a lot that can be done with trees, however if they are really nice we can put accents on them. Well placed wash or bullet lights can make trees stand out in the darkness. As previously mentioned, downlight are mostly found in trees, but if they are put up high in the foliage then we can get the sense that the moon is pouring through the branches.
The Home Itself. This is where something like a flood light is going to come in handy. Unless there are certain pieces of the home we want to accent, flood lights are most likely the best idea. Near the home we want to create as much light as possible – for entertaining or at the very least for just relaxing on a nice summer evening.
And so, this article about landscape lighting has come to an end. Go out there and brighten up your nights!
