Your Guide to Landscape Lighting

Massachusetts is blessed with the four seasons. That means that when the hours of daylight get shorter and the temperatures begin to drop you may also begin to use your outdoor space less as well. Landscape lighting can help you make the most of your outdoor living space. Landscape lighting is the strategic placement of lights around the exterior of your home to increase safety, highlight unique landscaping features and create a beautiful atmosphere once the sun has set. Learn more about landscape lighting and see if it might be right for you.

Benefits of Landscape Lighting

Increased Safety

Landscape lighting is not only beautiful but helps to increase safety on your property. Having landscape lighting around your steps, patios and walkways can help prevent falls on your property at night. Additionally outside lighting can also increase the security of your property by eliminating dark areas that could conceal intruders. This is an incredibly important consideration as, according to many sources, burglary happens in the US about once every 13 seconds. Landscape lighting not only prevents this by creating fewer dark spaces for intruders to hide but shows that your house is well taken care of, which can deter theft. You can also install motion detector lights that can startle and discourage trespassers.

gain more time to spend outside

Your patio and backyard are the perfect places to spend time with family, entertain guests or just relax and enjoy the outdoors. Landscape lighting is an essential part of designing your outdoor living space if you want to get the most use out of your yard. Landscape lighting allows you to enjoy your landscape long after the sun has gone down. When you have landscape lighting installed on average you gain another 30-40% of your time that you can enjoy in your outdoor space.

can deter pests

Landscape lighting can help to deter pests such as raccoons and skunks. Motion detectors set up near areas that attract nocturnal visitors will startle these unwanted visitors who prefer to move about in the dark.

highlight your property's unique features

Landscape lighting highlights your architecture and landscape features. Your yard is an investment, and you should be able to get enjoyment out of your favorite features even when night falls. Landscape lighting can draw attention to your favorite trees, unique plantings, water features or other areas.

Types of Landscape Lighting

There are thousands of landscape lighting options to choose from. Below you can find some of the most popular landscape lighting options.

garden lights

Garden lights are small fixtures implanted in garden beds in order highlight your plantings even at night. These fixtures are usually ornamental, and their style is considered when designing the look and feel of the garden bed. Garden lights are great at creating an ambient mood and illumination to outdoor spaces. You may have garden lights that look like lanterns and hang from trees or bulbs that blend in seamlessly with ornamental grasses.

path and area lights

Path and area lights are a great way to utilize landscape lighting. Pathway lights provide direct illumination on walkways throughout your outdoor living space, providing safety and a more pleasant atmosphere. The project their light downwards towards the path and sides as opposed to area lights that project more around the whole area of the fixture.

Hardscape Lights

Hardscape lights are a great way to highlight your patio, stone wall, outdoor kitchen or any other hardscape you have in your outdoor space.

Stair Lights

Stair lights provide safety by illuminating stairs on your property. They can be installed on sides of your stairs or directly incorporated in when installing, allowing for easy guidance on the stairs and decreasing the risk of falls.

Spotlights

Spotlights project a focused beam of light that is highly adaptable to your needs. They are often angled up at a 45-degree angle and used to illuminate trees, highlight unique outdoor features and draw attention to architectural features.

Flood Lights

Flood lights are similar to spotlights as they are used to illuminate specific areas, flood lights create a broader beam which can extend up to 120 degrees. This makes them perfect for illuminating larger areas like driveways and parking lots. Spotlights can be used as floodlights but specific flood lights typically have a higher wattage and a broader beam of light that makes them much for effective than a spotlight.

Wash Lights

Wash lights are a form of flood light used to create lighting all over a large area as opposed to standard flood lights which illuminate only part of an area and creates an oval or wedge shape. They are typically used on walls to create uniform, vertical glow, though they can also be used to highlight architectural features as well. Wash lights can help spaces appear larger and brighter and are great for entryways, corridors and hallways.

Underwater Lights

Underwater lights can be used to highlight your pool, pond, waterfall or other water feature on your property. These lights are waterproof and used to create a peaceful tranquility and highlight your water feature at night. If you’re looking for a way to create a magical environment in your outdoor living space, underwater lights are a great way to achieve that look.

Smart Lights

A predicted trend in 2026 is the rise of smart lights in landscaping. Smart lights allow you to easily control your landscape lighting from your phone. You can create custom timers and change colors, creating a range of landscape lighting effects while using the same fleet of lights. As our world continues to become more technologically advanced, the popularity of smart landscaping will only continue to increase.

Landscape Lighting Tips

Illuminate Your Home

Begin with illuminating your most important feature- your house. While landscape lighting is frequently used to highlight landscape features throughout your property, it is also crucial to remember to highlight your home. Not only will it deter intruders and increase safety by decreasing shadowy spots near the entrances to your home, but you will be able to show off one of your greatest assets, your home!

Mitigate Safety Concerns

After illuminating your home, another top priority should be making sure to mitigate any potential safety concerns. That means adding path lights towards your entryways and stair lights on any stairs. It can also mean adding lights to your patio to avoid tripping while in that area of your outdoor living space.

Create Zones

The best landscape lighting doesn’t focus on individual light fixtures but creates zones for different lighting purposes. Some common zones are task lights, accent lights and ambient lights. Task lights create safety on your property. These are the lights by entryways and on paths. Accent lights highlight your unique landscape features. Ambient lights create a warm and inviting atmosphere in your outdoor living space. By creating zones, you can more easily control the brightness, color and timing of specific sets of lights.

Consider Angles and Shadows

Light placement and angles are some of the most important elements in landscape design. One important consideration is where the light source is coming from. Uplighting creates a dramatic effect with long shadows, whereas downlighting creates a much softer and ambient environment. To create visually captivating landscape lighting, you should also think about the shadows that will be produced. Lighting ornamental grasses or the undersize of plant leaves and create unique and unexpected shadows that will create visual interest in your outdoor living space.

Conclusion

Landscape lighting can take your outdoor space to the next level. You increase your space’s functionality, safety and visual interest at night. There are endless options when it comes to landscape lighting. If you’re looking to create a stunning nightscape with landscape lighting, consider hiring a professional who will know how to keep your property safe while creating breathtaking lighting for your property.

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Perennial Landscape Corporation

The Quality You Expect and the Service You Deserve

Perennial Landscape Corporation is a family-owned business creating distinguished landscape environments in Winchester, Concord, Lexington, Andover and surrounding Massachusetts areas since 1995.

Perennial Landscape Corporation was named after the category of plants called perennials. Perennials are plants that have a lifespan of two or more years, meaning they come back each year. Just like a perennial, our aim is for you to be able to count on us year after year.

Here at Perennial, we pride ourselves on providing excellent landscaping services and outstanding customer service. Our motto is ” the quality you expect and the service you deserve”. That is the mindset that permeates every aspect of our work.