Match the Look with the Lighting

You’ve just updated your yard. The landscaping looks excellent and inviting during the day, it’s low maintenance, and is water efficient. Come night fall, your dark yard could be a mound of dirt for all that you can see. Don’t let the night sky take away from the time, money, and effort that you’ve put into your yard.

Do-It Yourself Lighting vs. Professional Lighting

Enhance your yard at night with good lighting. Small, do-it yourself systems can provide adequate lighting, however larger systems are a must for achieving well-designed outdoor landscape lighting. At Suncrest Landscape, Inc. we do professional landscape lighting to extend the life of your yard throughout the night. Your home and yard need the right lighting, not only for curb appeal, but for safety and security as well.

The first step to good landscape lighting is to develop a solid plan. We start by identifying the areas of your yard and house that should be illuminated. Trees, water features, and interesting hardscape or foliage provide excellent opportunities for ambient or accent lighting. Your home’s architectural features, such as eaves, overhangs, and facades can also present places to create an inviting atmosphere.

Careful attention should be paid to ensure that entry, as well as access points of your home are well lit. Walkways should also be easy to see and follow, and inadvertently can become an interesting feature for your yard at night.

Deciding on the type of lighting to use is highly dependent upon the purpose of the lighting. For example, you wouldn’t use ambient lighting where you will be working over a lit grill at night.

There are typically three categories of outdoor lighting:

• Ambient – For use where general illumination is needed, such as a seating area or pathway.
• Task – Use these in locations where stronger, focused lighting is needed, such as over a cook area or entryway.
• Accent – Just as the names implies, an accent light is meant to accentuate a feature or area of a yard. Choosing 3-5 focal points in an average-sized yard provide visual interest without being distracting.

Most of today’s outdoor lighting is low voltage, and therefore safer and less costly to install and run. Even with the voltage at a tenth of what it used to be, you’ll find that a 10.5 volt light fixture provides more than adequate lighting effects. Most top-of-the-line lighting comes with at least a one-year warranty on the bulbs and a ten-year warranty on the lights. Automated, wireless controls complete the ease and efficiency of your new modern, outdoor lighting system.

Remember, at Suncrest Landscape, Inc. we specialize in landscape lighting, as well as landscaping. Let us help you with lighting your home and yard. We work one project at a time to ensure that your yard is always our priority. Contact Suncrest Landscape, Inc. today and let us help to illuminate your home and yard.