Landscape Night Lighting

When most people hire a landscape designer, their only thoughts are about what their yards will look like during the daytime. However, there's no reason to have all of the beauty go dark once the sun sets. Landscape night lighting keeps key elements visible no matter what time it is, and houses that have it will stand out from their neighbors in a memorable way.

There are a few key things to consider when installing night lighting. A landscape designer will often draw up plans for the primary light to hit whatever's in front of the center of the house. Typically, this will be some type of tree. Then, extra lights might highlight bushes or other accents at the sides of the front-facing aspect of the home. If there are other trees in the yard, they might be highlighted as well, depending on how they look.

While this is a fairly standard layout, there are times when it should be adapted. This is especially true if your landscape includes fall-blooming perennials. These plants know when to bloom by detecting short days. If they are lit by landscape night lighting, they often won't bloom at all. Plants' circadian rhythms do not distinguish between natural and artificial light, even when the artificial light is actually too dim to support photosynthesis. Therefore, they must remain unlit during the late summer and fall to preserve their bloom cycles.

That said, it's easy to get the landscape lighting you need to create a stunning display, even if you have fall-blooming plants. Just have your landscape designer choose placements that keep the right plants in the dark, while lighting up those that don't care about light/dark cycles. Most plants can be beautifully lit with no trouble.