Landscapes are designed predominantly for daytime enjoyment. Color, form, texture and fragrance stimulate and attract us, so they are usually part of the design process. Changes in light affect our perception of the landscape. As light fades, vibrant colors become muted, plants and other objects in the garden lose their powerful visual attraction, becoming indistinct splotches in the darkness. Diminishing daylight reduces the stimuli in the landscape. Fragrance and sound are still discernible but how can we replace the visual elements we have lost to the dark? We can create a nightscape by installing low voltage illumination.
Illumination can be as important as the selection of plant material to harmonization in the landscape. Both require imagination. An illuminated landscape comes alive at night. Plants that fulfill a support role during daylight hours can be elevated to a focal point at night with creative lighting. Color and form can be resurrected, even changed up at night. We can use light to flood, bathe or highlight plants and other elements in the landscape, such as patios, fountains, ponds, arbors, planters, etc. The combinations are limited only by the imagination of the installer. Flooding means using a high level of lighting, for example around a swimming pool. Bathing would be used where a lower level of general lighting is needed, as on a patio or gazebo. Uplighting, downlighting and spotlighting are used to highlight features, individual plants, etc.
In order to achieve a desired effect, the correct lighting fixtures must be chosen. In order to choose the correct fixtures, a list of illumination priorities should be drawn up. Safety should always be at the top of the list, including illumination for sidewalks, pathways, steps, water features (ponds, pools, fountains), etc. After that, decide what effects are desirable. Trees could be uplit, patios and fountains could be downlit, shrubs could be silhouetted against a wall or trellis, fishponds and waterfalls could be illuminated from underwater … imagination is the key. The nighttime landscape can be a completely different world (and no, it doesn’t have to be like Disney World!)
Fixtures are named by their function or location, pathway or spot, for example. There are fixtures designed to illuminate stairs or steps, safety railings and underwater features, to name a few. Lenses are available to change the color of the lamps (light bulbs) in many fixtures, producing red, yellow, green or blue light. Low voltage lighting runs at 12 volts, so all types of fixtures must be run off of a transformer that reduces the 110 volts from an outlet to the lower voltage needed. Transformers are rated according to the total wattage of the fixtures they will support. It is important to avoid overloading transformers, so it is good practice to purchase a transformer with more capacity than required to allow for expansion of the lighting system without adding transformers. That can get expensive.
Lamps usually come with the fixtures. There are a wide variety of manufacturers of lighting, and a wide variety of prices for the components. Many stores and outlets sell low voltage lighting, but unfortunately, few of them really understand the products and their limitations. They frequently feature less expensive products to draw customers, without regard for product reliability, limits, quality and guarantees. The purchaser needs to know the specifications of the products in order to choose components that will deliver. If the retailer cannot be relied upon to provide detailed information, the purchaser may need to do their own research to avoid disappointment. It may be prudent to seek the help of a landscape company for lighting projects if all this seems too involved or daunting.
Let your imagination light your way!
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