Landscape lighting design

Outdoor lighting design depends largely on your goals: utility, safety, landscape visual enhancement... But do not over-light your outdoors and prefer an environmentally-friendly outdoor lighting system: outdoor solar lighting (or low-voltage outdoor lighting).

Outdoor Lighting Design & landscape map

Before beginning any works or shopping, draw a map with your home and surrounding driveways, walkways, steps, gardens, main trees…

With that map, study the distances and areas and....

- mark the main activity centers and the main focal points: entrances, fountains, trees... Do not select too many focal points. One or two is usually enough.

- mark the points that should be illuminated: driveways, walkways, steps, decks…

The map can also help you to position the fixtures, as well as the power source, though it also depends also on other considerations and options involving the type of fixtures, their wattage, and the lighting needs.

The image below, from Sulis, is an example of what an outdoor lighting map can be in its final stage.

Landscape Map

Drawing such a map, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t or can’t do some experiments before installing the system, or during the installation. The map is mainly a working sketch, that may also reflect simulations and measures involving lighting and its effects.

Do not over-light your outdoors

Do not over-light your landscape. Too much light is pollution. Brighter lighting should only involve some particularly important landscape areas. Lighting should be used to accomplish safety and utility goals (pathways…).

Do not turn your landscape into a birthday cake with plenty of candles, and consider your neighbors privacy and rights. Bet on low levels of light (use low-voltage lighting or solar lighting). Low intensity lights are usually sufficient for safety and security («a little light goes a long way»).

See: Light pollution.

Landscape lighting techniques

Common outdoor lighting techniques comprise Uplighting, Pathlighting, etc. We list them below.

Uplighting

In Uplighting, lights are placed at ground level, focused upward, to highlight the landscape elements from below - architectural elements, signs, trees... The fixtures used in this technique include spot, flood lights and in-ground fixtures.

Pathlighting

In this case, lights are placed near the ground level, along the side of pathways and driveways.

In pathways, the goal of lights is to guide people, and fixtures should be located low to the ground, spreading light horizontally across it, just bright enough to light steps and paths…

In driveways, it’s a good practice not to keep the lights too close, and to alternate lights on each side of the path. Fixtures for this technique include specific path-lights and walkway lighting fixtures…

Downlighting

In this technique, landscape elements are lighted from above. Fixtures are often concealed, and include spot and flood lights. The goal is to provide moonlight effects and security.

Backlighting

In this technique lights are placed behind the objects or plants to cast silhouettes. Fixtures are concealed, and include spot, flood and in-ground lights.

Spot lighting and accent lighting

This technique uses a strong and focused beam of light to illuminate landscape elements - flagpoles, sculptures…

Other techniques

Other specific “techniques”, have a more restrict use, usually decorative: flickering flames, underwater lightings…

Fixtures

The type of fixtures for outdoor lighting depends in part on the desired effects and goals. The styles vary a lot, but there are some standard fixture types. The best outdoor lighting catalogs include:

- directional or spot lights
- floodlights
- pathway lights
- deck and patio lights
- underwater lights

Solar Flood Light Solar Deck Light

Images: Solar Floodlights and Pathway lights

Controls

Use lighting controls - like timers, motion sensors, dimmers and photocells - to turn lights on and off automatically and to get energy savings. See, for details: Automatic controls and outdoor lighting.

Outdoor lighting systems

See, for details on these systems: Low-voltage lighting and Outdoor Solar Lighting