Approaching your home after sunset can be a magical and inviting experience. All that needs to be incorporated into your front yard is an effective lighting plan. Strategically placed lighting can have various stunning effects and can serve to highlight your Westbury, NY, landscape’s best assets. Having a well-lit front yard also serves as a security measure, reducing the risk of accidents and discouraging intruders from entering your property. Read on for some guidance on how to go about illuminating your front yard.
Selecting the right light
There are various types of lights, each varying in brightness and energy efficiency. LED lights are energy efficient and well-suited to the environmentally conscious homeowner. Their colors can also be customized and blue-tinted lighting, for example, can be used to create moonlight-like ambience.
Halogen lights generally use more electricity and are often installed with timers to manage their energy consumption. However, these lights are also brighter and can therefore be used within spaces where safety is a priority. For example, they can frame walkways to prevent falls or can be scattered around areas where children prefer to play. Halogen lights can, unfortunately, cause an unpleasant glare. Positioning them between foliage, or out of one’s direct line of sight, can soften this glare and make their intensity more bearable.
While solar-powered lights aren’t as bright as many other types of lighting, they are eco-friendly alternatives that are relatively inexpensive to maintain. They do, however, need to be placed in a spot where they are able to charge during the day.
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Experimenting with landscape lighting techniques
Outdoor lighting can be used to highlight a single item within a landscape and turn it into an eye-catching focal point. Statues, ornate plants, and water features are all good candidates for this technique. Consider surrounding your chosen focal point with lights placed at various distances from it, and facing different angles. Since a combination of lights are being used, they should be of low intensity to avoid a garish look.
A single light fixture can also be used to highlight a plant or hardscape feature. ‘Highlighting’ is an effective method to draw attention to select focal points and requires the use of an up-turned light in front of the feature, near its base. By placing a light behind your desired focal point, you can make it stand out as a dark silhouette.
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Colorless LED fairy lights can be draped across trees, or wrapped around your pergola for lighting that is festive, yet suitable all year round. This lighting technique is often incorporated into dining areas and fireside spaces, where it can make outdoor gatherings with friends and family even more cheerful.
‘Moonlighting’ is a technique in which a light is placed high up in a tree and is angled downward to emulate natural light. Low-intensity lights should be used for this, as halogen lights would be too harsh to convincingly mimic moonlight. Moonlighting can be used to softly highlight a path or secluded bench within your garden, enabling you to safely enjoy a peaceful evening.
