Types of Landscape Lighting

Landscape lighting can transform any ordinary yard into a magical place where you love to spend time. The main goal of landscape lighting is to light up every nook and corner of your yard. Lighting not only adds aesthetic appeal and beauty to your outdoor space but also increases the functionality and safety of the space. The right type of lighting highlights the different aspects of your garden or lawn, such as your favorite tree, new patio, or raised planters. The unique play of light and dark creates an appealing aesthetic for your home's exterior.

With different outdoor lighting options, choosing the right lighting for your landscape can be difficult. In this guide, we will look at the most common and popular types of landscape lighting and discover their purpose, helping you maximize your outdoor space and illuminate your landscape.

10 Popular Types of Landscape Lighting

Here are the popular landscape lighting fixtures to install in your garden or yard to enhance their appeal at night.

1. Spotlights

Spotlights provide a focused, narrow light beam, typically at a 45-degree angle. These lights are excellent for highlighting or silhouetting a specific feature or attraction. They range in brightness and the area they cover. Spotlight becomes a specific type of light when used in a specific way. If you point it upward at the wall, it will create a wall-grazing effect and become an uplight. They are used to illuminate statues, walls, plants, patios, and any feature you can point them at.

2. Step Lights

These lights go either on walls next to stairs or on the risers, which are vertical parts of stairs. Step lights are a great way to accentuate the architectural features of your outdoor space. Use them as safety lights on stairs or steps leading to your garden or backyard. Step lights also effectively illuminate outdoor entertainment areas.

3. Uplights

Up lighting is one of the popular forms of landscape lighting. It is an accent light to add drama to tall garden features like house walls, trees, or rocks. Uplights shine light from below and add an enchanting effect to the feature. With uplights installed on the ground, you can highlight the trunk of larger trees or the bottom of a tree's canopy. Spotlights and well lights are commonly used for up lighting.

4. Floodlights

Floodlights are the most popular and useful type of outdoor landscape light. These lights are used to light up large areas because they cast a wider range and have high brightness. Floodlights illuminate patios and driveways from above. They can spread up to 120 degrees due to wider beam and angle. If you're looking for outdoor lights to brighten your yard at night, flood lights are suitable for you. They add more security to your property.

5. Path Lights

These are the most common outdoor lighting fixtures for a home's exterior. Path lights illuminate walkways, driveways, stairs, and garden trails so you can walk safely on them at night. These lights add a warm and welcoming atmosphere to your yard and help improve the home's curb appeal. To choose the right path lights, you must consider the height. Install the light at a height of at least 14 inches for a nice glow.

6. Well Lights

Well, lights serve a similar purpose to path lights in that they help light up walking areas. These lighting fixtures are installed below ground level and shine upward. Homeowners often install well lights into the grass or onto solid paths. When installing in turf areas, ensure they are deep enough to be passed over by lawnmowers or other traffic.

7. Deck & Patio Lights

Deck lights are like downlights made for active social areas. The lights on a deck or patio are more noticeable, so you should consider your deck's style, size, and color palette before choosing the deck lights. Deck lights provide ample lighting in seating areas and should be used generously to light up the social area. Since decks are adjacent to railings, these lights are installed directly on fence posts or decking.

8. String Lights

This type of landscape lighting has become another popular outdoor trend. These lights are like Christmas lights but have larger bulbs. String lights add a charming, comfortable tone to the landscape. They are perfect for stringing through trees, fences, and patios or decorating around the pool. String lights provide a subtle glow for a beautiful scene.

9. Underwater Lights or Pond Lights

Underwater lights work and look similar to spotlights, but they are fully water-resistant. They light up ponds, swimming pools, and other water features. They are installed inside outdoor water features to add color and ambiance to your landscape at night.

10. Hardscape Lights

Hardscape lights are small LED lights with brackets or flanges that highlight landscape features such as rocks, stairways, walls, patios, walkways, outdoor kitchens, or fireplaces. These lights are perfect for down-lighting stone walls and up lighting other garden features. They are easy to hide and give soft lighting to hardscape surfaces made of stones, bricks, tiles, or other hard materials.

Related Post: How to Choose Landscape Lighting

Benefits of Landscape Lighting

There are numerous benefits of installing landscape lighting in your outdoor space, including:

Improves Home Security: A well-lit outdoor space makes burglars visible and helps deter them from trying to break into property. It also attracts the attention of your neighbors, making it easier for them to catch intruders in action.

Ensures Your Personal Safety: Landscape lighting illuminates' steps, seating areas, and uneven areas, guiding guests along paths and driveways to help reduce the risk of slipping and falling.

Highlights Landscape Features: Lighting transforms dark outside space into a vibrant display and highlights special features of your landscape, such as fountains, patios, pergolas, trees, gardens, or ponds.

Boosts Home's Value: According to the National Association of Home Builders, up to 90% of potential home buyers rated outdoor landscape lighting as an essential quality to look for while purchasing a home. Landscape lighting can be an excellent selling point if you plan to sell your house in the upcoming years.

Maximize Outdoor Space Use: Landscape lighting makes your outdoor spaces usable after sunset, giving you more time to enjoy the outdoors. You can enjoy dinner, entertain guests, relax, or spend quality time with your loved ones anytime.

Wrapping Up

Installing or upgrading landscape lighting is an excellent option for your home improvement project. By adding the right type of lighting to your walkways and backyard, you can create that magical ambiance that makes your home's exterior inviting and eye-catching. Landscape lighting adds so much value to your outdoor space with little investment. You can light up your garden, trees, patio, driveway, and home's front using different types of lights. In addition to adding beauty, you can improve the security of your home.

DripWorks offers a diverse selection of landscape lighting solutions, each designed to meet your unique needs. Explore our range of distinctive lighting fixtures and discover the perfect ones to elevate your landscape. Whether you're in search of contemporary light fixtures to enhance your backyard's aesthetic, energy-efficient LED path lights, or powerful spotlights, you'll find the ideal landscape lighting solution here.