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Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting – How to Use Color and Placement for Best Effect

Bring Your Landscape to Life at Night

An important part of landscape design that is given short shrift by many people is the landscape lighting.  Granted, it can be hard to visualize the need for landscaping lights during the daylight hours when everything is naturally illuminated by the sun.   But in the evening when it gets dark, your landscaping will virtually disappear into the night unless you have some sort of outdoor lighting system installed.   

A few well placed lighting fixtures in your gardens and along your pathways can bring your landscaping to life in an extraordinary new way.  Shrubs, flowers, trees, and other landscape features that look plain or even mundane during the day can take on rich hues, colors and special effects with tasteful use of artificial outdoor lighting.  

One easy-to-install and cost-effective way to light up your landscape is with low voltage outdoor lighting.  If you are looking at using low voltage lights for your outdoor areas, this article presents a couple of things to consider before you start.

Use Different Colors

First, consider using some light colors other than white.   Let’s make it clear that this is not a denigration of white light by any means.   White light is the most commonly used type of light in landscaping layouts, and brings out the true color of your highlighted objects.  This is because white light is a “natural” light source that contains all colors in the light spectrum.   

However, white light is not the only way to illuminate your landscaping.   Use different colored filters on your fixtures to bring out the natural color of the plant foliage.   For example, yellow is a warm colored light that brings out hidden characteristics of wood in tree trunks, branches and limbs.   Red and blue filtered lights also provide great effects for various objects you want to highlight.  

Place Ground Fixtures Discreetly Out of Site

Another consideration is the proper placement of your ground based fixtures such as well lights.  When you install your ground light fittings, be sure to hide them discretely away from view behind rocks, trees, or other landscape objects to eliminate glare.   The very best landscape design can be marred by poorly placed light fixtures that shine a bright glare of light in your face.   Because most ground lights have no guards or deflectors to shield the light, it naturally creates a glare unless you place it where the light will not directly be seen.    

Use Common Sense

Your lights should not be the feature in themselves, but should highlight and accentuate the best features of your landscaping.    Put some thought into it and use some common sense before you install your lights.   The old adage “less is more” is a good rule of thumb when it comes to using low voltage outdoor lights for best effect in your landscape areas.

About the Author

If you’re considering outdoor lights for your home, Malibu Landscape Lighting provides some of the easiest to install, most environmentally friendly  low voltage outdoor lighting products on the market.

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