It’s not a big secret that a lot of different elements come into play when creating a stellar landscape design. But while it’s important to spend plenty of time and attention on creating great hardscapes and landscapes with plants and features, what about the often overlooked aspect of landscaping? We’re talking about lighting, and LED lighting in particular is becoming a tremendous part of good design.
Lighting and Landscaping
Just why does lighting matter at all? The bottom line is simple – good lighting can not only help your property stand out and look great throughout the year, but it can also help add a little something extra to its overall ambiance and appearance.
There are plenty of different ways that you can use lighting to enhance your landscape design in dramatic or subtle ways, depending on the situation. For example:
- Give your entertainment space the whole night. The right lighting will let you give your pool, patio, deck, or outdoor kitchen the chance to be enjoyed all night long. While torches or similar steps can help, good LED lighting can make it easy for those summer and spring parties to be enjoyed without struggling to see.
- Safety matters in a big way, and little lighting touches can help ensure that everyone is safe. Whether it’s around the pool or patio, along the edges of walkways, or lighting up the perimeter of the property, good lighting will keep everyone safe no matter when they’re enjoying your home.
- A little mood lighting can go a long way, and something as simple as some soft LED lighting around the pool or hot tub can make it easier to relax and settle into the right mindset.
- And of course, lighting also lets you show off your landscape design from a different perspective. It doesn’t have to be so bright that it keeps the neighborhood awake, but a little landscape lighting can certainly help show off your property to everyone, regardless of the time of day.
Why LED?
Over the last few years, LED lighting has taken off in popularity in numerous areas of home improvement. While interior LED light fixtures are becoming common, they can also fit into the landscape design world in a big way. There are numerous reasons that choosing LED makes sense when it comes time to install landscape lighting, including the following.
- Options – Few types of light are as versatile as LED lighting. Whether you want a specific color, different intensities, long ropes of light or basic focal point lighting, LED provides more options than traditional incandescent lighting ever could.
- Durable – LED will also stand up to whatever Mother Nature can throw at it. LED landscape lighting is housed in designs that make them able to resist wind, rain, shock, impacts, cold, and heat. They’ll last for years and give you your money’s worth.
- Affordable – It’s true that LED lighting will cost more than incandescent or halogen bulbs in the beginning. But after the first purchase, you can expect your bulbs to last five to ten years or even more. Instead of replacing those halogen bulbs every year, you can install once and be done with it.
- Cooler Temps – Halogen lighting and incandescent bulbs can both get hot in a hurry. LED lights don’t use those interior filaments that get hot quickly. Instead, you get a cooler light that translates to longer life for the fixture and the light – and one that’s better for what surrounds it as well.
- Eco-Friendly – LED landscape lights are designed to be better for the environment. Their lifespan is the primary factor here, and just considering how much waste they avoid generating by lasting for years is enough to convince many of their eco-friendly nature. But LED lighting also contains no toxic chemicals and is entirely recyclable.
- Energy Efficient – By installing LED lighting in your landscape design you’ll end up saving money on your energy bill, too. LED lighting can consume as much as 75% less energy. Your monthly bills will be lower thanks to this simple choice.
The bottom line isn’t hard to understand – landscape design lighting offers ways to customize your property and give it that little something extra that it may need. And when it comes to landscape lighting, choosing to go with LED lighting is something that makes a tremendous amount of sense. It’s a better choice for a better property, and one that deserves your attention.
