Most design landscapes with sunlight in mind, but with well-executed outdoor lighting, your landscape can truly come alive at night, as well.  It is not as simple as installing a few fixtures and hoping for the best; rather, you’ll want to give some thought to the type of lighting you choose and how to execute it to enhance the ambiance of your garden or hardscape.

One of the most important rules to follow when planning your landscape lighting is that “less is more.” Harsh, glaring light can be worse than no light at all. Lanscapeforms Insite brilliantly compares outdoor lighting to elegant moonlight.

“The goal of outdoor lighting should not be to turn night into day.  Outdoor lighting occurs during a time when the receptors in your eyes are naturally adapting from photopoic vision to mesopic vision.  Using moonlight as inspiration for a better solution, we believe that outdoor lighting should mimic the minimal glare, spectral color, and level of contrast naturally present at night.”

The benefits go far beyond ambiance, too.  High quality LED lights that meet Energy Star criteria are incredibly efficient, mercury- and lead-free, and last much longer than other types of outdoor lighting.  While eliminating unnecessary energy consumption for the benefit of the planet, LED landscape lighting also helps to reduce light pollution for the benefit of all Colorado locals and visitors.  For assistance in planning outdoor lighting in your Colorado landscape and garden, talk to one of our professional landscape lighting designers here at Columbine Design by calling (303) 761-6807.

Source: Lanscapeforms Insite
Photo via Columbine Design