Why Is Outdoor Landscape Lighting so Important?

We are ready to share the best landscape lighting tips with Chino Hills, Corona, Riverside, La Verne, Ontario, and Rancho Cucamonga. It’s time to spotlight your home!

We continuously strive to have a lush green lawn. We make sure all the plants and bushes are trimmed perfectly to accent your home’s exterior. We work tirelessly so that our flowerbeds pop with color throughout every season. But what really makes our home the star of the show? It’s the lighting! Having the proper landscape lighting will enhance your home and give you the bling that every yard needs to shine!

When you have that perfect illuminated home, it sparkles at night. You create an atmosphere that is not only safe but appealing to everyone that passes by. Lights will showcase both the landscaping and architectural features of your home. 

Our experienced team can help take the guesswork out of which landscaping lighting gives the best results and also how you can save money when you make the right choices. Below are some of the best tips you should know when adding landscape lighting to your yard. 

What are the benefits of having outdoor lighting?

Although landscape lighting enhances the beauty of your home, it also protects your family. It discourages unwanted intruders and helps to light pathways, walkways, stairs, and steps, allowing your family to move safely around your yard. 

Outdoor lighting helps to extend outdoor living space.  It gives you the ability to utilize your deck, pool, or patio after hours. It brings a piece of the inside of your home outside. It takes entertaining to a new level. 

When you strategically place landscape lighting throughout your yard, you get to showcase your plants and trees both during the day and in the evening.   You may think that you need to load up the yard with lights to really give it the pop it needs to shine at night. Actually, this is incorrect! You don’t need a bunch of lights to get great results. You want to contrast the light versus the dark to accent different areas of your yard by creating shadows in the landscaping. 

What are the different types of landscape lighting?

Floodlights are the most common around your home. They can cover a wide area and give off a very bright light. The wattage is much higher than other landscaping lighting. They can work on a motion sensor and are very useful for driveways. You don’t have to worry about having people drive over your lawn at night since the lights automatically go on once they detect movement. 

Spotlights are the perfect landscaping lights to accent your home. They are very versatile as they can support different size wattages, beam widths, and bulbs. When you place spotlights around your yard, you create different techniques like shadowing, moonlighting, silhouetting, or highlighting, all of which add a new dimension to your landscaping. 

Step lights are a must for your patio and deck so everyone can move safely around your yard.  Install them on the side walls next to the steps or mount them on the front of the steps as this will give a clear path for everyone to follow, 

Area and Path lights are essential when trying to illuminate areas that have the most traffic.  The lights aim down and to the side, highlighting the most accessible way to move around your yard. These lights also work as a great way to compliment your flowerbeds and illuminate the flowers’ colors. 

String lights always seem to be so festive; they immediately give us a vision of parties on the deck or sitting with your favorite people sharing dinner on your patio. The soft glow of the tiny lights provides any yard with the perfect ambiance to make great memories.

Hardscape Lights work best in your yard where you have stone or brick, such as fireplaces or outdoor kitchens. They usually are attached to overhangs or capstones. The lights help to soften the areas and add the light you need to use the area safely. 

Should I install Solar or LED Low voltage lighting? 

Solar lights can be placed anywhere in the yard and powered by the sun, which directly saves on your electric bill. It’s like free energy!  The light isn’t as bright as low voltage lighting, so you may need to put more in the yard than a low voltage system.

They are a great option to place in between plants and bushes and don’t require any wiring to get in the way. They are designed to work in all types of weather but keep in mind if you don’t have any sunlight during the day, they cannot fully charge, so you may have dark areas at night, which can create a safety issue.  

When you use LED low voltage lighting, it needs to be near electricity, and you need to bury the wire underground to protect it from weather conditions and any rodents that may be vacationing in your yard. The most significant advantage of an LED low voltage lighting system is that it uses up to 15-20 percent less than a halogen bulb, which saves on your monthly electric bill. Believe it or not but LED bulbs can last up to 50,000 hours, so you don’t have to worry about constantly replacing them. Last but not least, LED lighting is very eco-friendly and is 100 percent recyclable!

Should I hire a professional to do my lighting?

With so many landscape lighting systems to choose from, having a professional install your lights can save you time and money. A professional installer will have access to lighting that you may not find at your local store. They also bring years of experience in knowing which design layouts will give you the best results. So if you are ready to spotlight your home, our experienced team is prepared to do the job!