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Landscape Lighting
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Posted by tom8olvr Z5 MA (My Page) on Tue, Jan 29, 08 at 15:38
| I can't seem to find any forum that addresses anything having to do with landscape lighting!
I have a small .33 yard - little in front - lots in back. I'd like to have some accent lighting out front - the end near the driveway is under a street light.
I'd like to have some lighting ON the fence, some along a flower bed, and some spot lights on some of the trees and 'island'. Again, it's a small area - so I don't want it to be lit up like fort Knox, but I'd like it to be more than just eerie lit...?? you know?
Pics of my yard...
I'd like to accent some of these beautiful oak trunks at night (this is part of the island): But what wattage should be used?
A lot of them were between 50-20 watts, which seems like a lot for a little yard. I was thinking 10 watts??
This area is completely lost at night, so I'd like to put fence/deck lighting between each post (between the 'bags'). But what wattage should be used?
I thought some pagoda lights could accent this flower bed? I don't want anything too bright - what wattage should be used here?
Any suggestions??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Landscape Lighting
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| Those colorful photos are sure a delight for the eyes on a dreary January day! However ... at the risk of seeming like a party pooper (and I've thought from time to time of starting a thread on this, just chicken, I guess) where is the logic in the growing trend of outdoor lighting for decoration when, at the same time, we're being urged to convert indoor lighting to CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) in order to save energey? Your trees and shade garden are lovely, but so are the stars. |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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| solar lighting has improved trremendously since my las trial 5+ years ago. You might want to trial a small set of solar lights. There are even solar spotlights. At worst, they won't be bright enough for your larger spots, but uses can be found for them. At best they will work fine for most all your needs. Mark- |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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My suggestions? Not that I am an expert, but have done a ton of research and walks around my area at night to see actual installs.
First off, while I totally agree with energy conservation and the benefits of CFLs..I do think that there are a many many ways to conserve all kinds of energy and still have the main goal in mind. The poster is correct - a separate topic. That said..
Speaking low voltage application with done right installation...
1st pic - simple 20W flood to light both trunks about 4-5ft (to capture your hostas as well) maybe positioned behind the rock, but tall enough to capture the grain of the wood towards the base.
2nd pic- is this the street? If so, you may want to spend the money not lighting the street area, but rather things inside your yard...just a thought. But, if you do want to light it, I'd say that you're "wasting light" going up a small fence...
3rd pic...tulip lights? that way it is enhancing the outline of the grass area as well as picking up the planting bed. 6-8 ft spread with at least 15 watt each. Just a thought... one thing that I've done is take a small votive candle and place them in position. They tend to provide about 8w of light so you cna visualize the the look. |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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| This has been most helpful! I should say that I didn't mean to make a statement about 'wasting' energy... My feeling about lighting my landscape is that I work real hard on my yard (we've lived here for a little over a year, I start all the flowers from seed, I started each one of the beds from nothing, I plant each and everyone of the hundreds of plants) and I work f/t and have small children and I have little time during the day to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor. I come home from work and 1/2 the time it's already dark - it would be great to enjoy the yard/landscape even though it's dark - which I did not do last year... I should also mention that solar is not an option - I have (get this) 24 large oak trees on my .33 lot... which is also why I have to grow shade loving (imps and begonias) and I don't see many stars (unless we're out by the water). Ok, so a candle is 8W? So the 20W wouldn't be over kill then. I just don't want the place lit up like a Christmas tree either... Second pic is my driveway - this may help... visualize?
Few more:
 
backyard with all the trees (front is just as bad):
 
Now I wish I had taken a picture of the yard from the street! Dang! Excuse the ignorance, but what's a tulip light?? You folks are great! I have a hill in the back yard that I don't know WHAT to do with... I might be tackling that next year - may be I can pick your brains until then! :) |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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Ok, I see it. So, my first thought is that the drive and border planting area next to the lawn is fairly long. You could go crazy w/lots of lights, but it would cost $$. Bit that said, with landscape lighting, I wouldn't worry bout looking like a vegas skyline. To light all 24 trees? no. But, to light some that provide ambient lighting and capture some surroundings? yes. I found that it's not the wattage so much rather than the placement. Natural look and pleasing to your eye, not someone else's!
Tulip lights are jsut as it sounds. it's a tulip shape on a long stem that has a nice curve at the top. They're tall enough and have a pretty decent spread. Look online - tons of them.
So..new pic 1 - something taller, spaced so to not light up the tension wire or power post. Positioned back behind the plants to spread light over the plants and over top to provide some bit of light onto jsut the edge of drive. Plus difficult to hid wire/conduit in the small slope of bed.
Pic 2 - play around with placement - the obvious choice is either in front of the hanging plants or equidistant between them. I see some small ferns..would look cool with them lighting more of these...keep the ferns small though.
Pic 3/4 - is that about as tall as these plants get? If so - yes, tall spead flood is best...tulip or something...
Pic 5 - from what I've seen, one usually wants to keep the same style of light throughout the whole landscape. Again, cost is an issue. You have long runs, but can also keep it simple. A rule of thumb my landscaper told me is to not worry about keeping the "circles" of light emitted intertwined. Just spaced evenly.
Pic 6 - I see steps...in a couple of places..you may want to have a couple of lights for these. And the trees, with the view from the lake as well as downward..could look really cool with a couple or three of the up lights. I have a 3yo and 4yo, so I placed my lights in the bed around the trees, so the kids were much less likely to step on them/kick them by accident (or on purpose!). So all in all, you're probably looking at a couple of transformers to make things a bit easier for install. that way, you can have a choice for off season to turnoff and save some money. Just a word of advice. Do the install right the first time. And I mean right - do the 12/2 or 14/2 at the min, good transformer for expansion, install deep and you'll be glad in the long run.
P.s. what a neat area you have! My kids would be in the lake constantly with me worried sick! And I hear ya bout the FT work/work around the yard thing! |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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| 21- Thank you so much for your comments, information and understanding (mine are also 3 and 4 and I'm a wreck with the lake as well)... My focus at this point will be the front yard. I'm thinking now floods and tulips for the trees and flowers (along the retaining wall) - and another string separately to light up the flowers along the driveway - what do you think of an install of the deck lighting on the fence with the light focused down instead of up (like a well light or spot)? I do have a neighbor right on the other side of the fence too... I want to be considerate of him. Yes, that's as big as the begonias/imps get... I have focused mainly on the tall ones - dragon wing begonias and envoy imps which grow to reportedly 12-16 inches tall - but mine were about 24"+. I have lots of bleeding hearts (which were yellowed and gone by the time I took the pics), ferns (I love the maidens hair fern - which is the one you commented on), hosta, etc. because it's SOOOO shady! The steps are out back and I'mjust not ready to tackle that just yet. The previous owner must have used it for a dumping ground (I too have done that with plants I'm not sure what to do with and used it as a nursery) I know that a slope like that adds interest and I'm looking foward to eventually focusing on that, but right now my main focus is the front yard... Thank you so much for your information - it has helped me tremendously! Thanks!!!! |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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You're welcome! I used the decks forum a lot and helped me a ton, so it's nice to provide back.
Usually, deck lighting is small wattage (i.e. small amount to light a step, etc.). On a fence? Hmmm not sure. Yes, no light upwards on the fence for consideration of your neighbor. I'm just not quite sure how that would work. Take a look at this tall light...http://www.fxl.com/products/product.htm?id=20
I used this brand in my applilcation (not tulip style). They're expensive, but very worth it for durability and performance. And I used a higher wattage so needed less of them. and no, I don't work for them though it may appear so! Read at the spread specs on this particular light. And you may have a slight amount of light creeping up the fence. Malibu's higher end product line also seem durable. Just less selection... |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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| This has been very helpful. Thank you so much! |
RE: Landscape Lighting
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Last year I finally started my outdoor lighting. I absolutely love the effect. Some things to think about:
Moonlighting is the most natural LD lighting. It is important to position the lights so you don’t really see the light source and the higher the better. Cross lighting where the beams cross high overhead will create soft natural shadows giving a moonlight feel. These lights should be done first and positioning is an art - so play around with them. For trees you want to feature, use well lights with down lights. General rule for well lights is narrow trees 18" from base and large trees 3' or so from base. For up lighting, use spots if you are trying to reach the top of the tree and use floods for shorter and broader distance. The well light that I have in three spots around my pool creates awesome reflections in the water. On my fence around the pool, I have a few down lights on the fence and plan on adding more. They are great, you can hardly see the actual fixture and the effect is so natural looking. My path lighting decisions were the most difficult because I would rather not have lights then have ones where you can look directly at the light bulb. I didn't want to create a runway look. The time spent choosing these lights was well worth the effort. I copied my lighting info below. Hopefully it is readable. It is a scanned copy that I keep for my records. LD lighting when done correctly (imitating moonlight) can create a whole new living experience. It is like adding a completely new backyard to the one you already have. It brings me much happiness, a calming feeling after the daytime craziness. Good luck and have fun.
Ally
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