If you were to think of any landscaping project right now, what would you say immediately are the most important aspects of it? The greenery used? The use of stone? The use of water features? How about lighting? Landscape lighting is a vital aspect of any building project, but is sometimes overlooked as a sideshow or afterthought.
Here are some of the best reasons why we should think more about landscape lighting:
1. Adds Depth and Dimension to an Outdoor Space
During the day, we look at landscaping in that daytime context with the sun bouncing off the various elements, blue skies in the background and whatnot, and we see what we are largely meant to see. Under normal circumstances, all of that beauty is just concealed away at night time. When you add landscape lighting to use at night, however, there is now a new way to appreciate the beauty and design of any landscaping.
2. Creates Usable Nighttime Space Outdoors
Landscaping made with common areas, footpaths and other features become useful again at nighttime with the addition of effective landscape lighting. For offices and workspaces this is great because it means afterwork events can be safely hosted in well-lit and attractive outdoor spaces around the office. That’s handy for everyone!
3. Keeps the Spotlight on Your Best Landscaping Features
If, for example, you’ve invested very heavily in getting certain tree types in place for your landscaping project, then you don’t want something as trivial as the night concealing their magnificence. The right kinds of landscape lighting can (literally) put the spotlight on the highlights of your landscaping: trees, steps/staircases, benches and other furniture, flower beds and more.
4. Flexibility and Versatility
There’s really no one type of outdoor light that defines the category anymore. You can get overhead lights on a porch, or lights incorporated into railings, fixed under steps, outlining paths, shining upwards to show the height and breadth of trees…the list goes on. Therefore, one other benefit of landscape lighting is that you can make it light up your outdoor space in just about any way that you can imagine.
5. Boost Property Value
We mentioned in our third point that landscape lighting helps to highlight those very special outdoor features that you’re very proud of. Another thing it can do is to add a real wow factor to your home or other property in general. When people are driving down a street during the day, there are many features of the home that can draw attention, but when it’s the evening time, it’s the landscape lighting that is what will draw attention most of all.
The instant boost in curb appeal can translate into real dollar increases on the value of your home as people immediately start imagining what it will be like for their own friends to be equally impressed by their landscape lighting.
6. Works as a Security Feature
One more added bonus to having good landscape lighting is that it creates light in the places where unsavoury characters normally try to remain hidden, namely the shadows. Even if burglary isn’t on your mind, it’s also useful for helping make footpaths, steps and other features of your outdoor space safer for guests.
This is particularly important for commercial buildings and spaces where the prospect of a customer or someone else slipping and falling on their property can have very real legal consequences. Lighting makes the space safer, both when you’re enjoying the outdoor space as we mentioned, and when people are coming and going from your indoor space.
