Landscape Lighting Tips for Charlotte Homeowners

There’s more to having a beautiful landscape than just maintaining your lawn, trimming your hedges, and power washing your sidewalk. If you don’t have proper landscape lighting, how will anyone see all of the hard work you’ve put into designing a perfect exterior? Outdoor lighting is one of the most effective ways to highlight the beauty of your home, landscape, and décor, and best of all, it’s affordable. Because Vision Green is the go-to for the Charlotte area’s outdoor lighting and lawn care needs, we’ve learned a thing or two about landscape lighting, and we want to pass that knowledge on to you with a few helpful tips.

1. Where Outdoor Lighting is Most Effective

You need a starting point, so get out a piece of paper and draw your landscape. This will help you think about which areas would benefit most from landscape lighting, be it a walkway that needs lighting for safety, or a fountain or other special feature that you want to highlight. Remember to consider what the view will look like from the inside of your home as well as the outside.

Create focal points by drawing attention to unique elements of your yard (like a large tree or water feature) and then add depth to the landscape by adding lighting to your home and pathways. If you have prominent architectural elements to your home, like pillars or a stone wall, use lighting to show them off.

2. The Best Landscape Lighting Techniques to Use

Uplighting – This method creates a bold effect by drawing strong attention to particular features and casting light up toward them. You can also use this effect in the front of your home to create a striking contrast to the rest of the landscape.

Moonlighting – This method creates a full moonlit effect on the surrounding area by angling light downward from a tall tree toward a pathway or other feature. This outdoor lighting style can create a romantic moon-lit atmosphere or add depth to a fountain or garden, and it is one of the most popular styles of outdoor lighting in Charlotte.

Wall-Washing – If you’re looking for to cast a soft, soothing glow onto a wall or other feature, this method is extremely effective. The lighting is angled sideways near the fixture and shines along evenly creating a relaxing atmosphere for the surrounding area.

Accenting and Highlighting – By using a spotlight or other type of light at the base of an object, you can emphasize a landscape or structural feature. You can use a variety of up or downlighting to accent any unique features.

3. Don’t forget Comfort and Security

You should always use subtle light for entertainment purposes. Indirect lighting keeps the mood relaxing and is best for a patio or other seating area. Also, remember that outdoor lighting can be used for security as well as ambiance, so make sure doors and other entryways are sufficiently lit.