5 Landscape Lighting Designs To Try This Summer

Make the most of the longer days of summer by spending more time outdoors. If your backyard is your summer vacation destination, we have some ideas for jazzing it up. Color LED landscape lighting is one of the easiest ways to transform your backyard from a rarely-used part of your home to a space you will love to retreat to.

No matter your style or budget, you have several lighting options to choose from. Turn your backyard into a go-to gathering spot for your friends and family, or use color changing outdoor lights to elevate the visual appeal of your front yard and home. 

One cool summer project is trying out different lighting designs for your landscape. Experimenting with different lighting options can make you and others see your home in a new light. Here are five landscape lighting designs to try this summer.

1. Use Spotlights & Floodlights To Highlight Specific Features

Spotlights point a narrow beam of light in a single direction, while floodlights spread light in a wide fan. Spotlights are great for highlighting landscape features, architectural details, and other display points on your property. If you want to light up your driveway or another wide area on your property, stick to floodlights. The lights are also great for giving you peace of mind while away on vacation. 

Up lights are a type of spotlight and have several applications. For instance, you can create patterns on walls, beautify your landscape, and brighten statues on your property with the landscape lighting fixture.

2. Add Elegance to Your Home With Inground Lights

Also known as “well lights,” inground lights are circle-shaped fixtures you install directly into the ground. These lights are another ideal option for accentuating features in your yard, and they make your home’s exterior look more sophisticated. With in-ground lighting’s uplight effect, you can add subtle visual intrigue to special trees, plants, and similar features in your yard.

You can also install smart outdoor lighting in the ground along your driveway. A few well-placed well lights can let visitors know where to park for get-togethers. If you use the lights in your driveway, check that the fixtures you choose can handle the weight of cars.

3. Create Warmth With Pathway Landscape Lighting

While some of the most widely-used landscape lighting fixtures, path lights are also some of the most effective. Create a path through your garden or show visitors which entrance to use with guiding lights.

Bear important considerations in mind when choosing path lights. For instance, your landscape will have a nice, balanced glow if you install path lights only 14-inches high. For borders, plant lights within a foot from the sides of pathways and walkways. Measure by the light’s diameter rather than the fixture’s diameter, so you don’t overcrowd your lights.

For all the beauty they add to yards, path lights are susceptible to the ravages of the weather. Buy lights made to resist wear and corrosion, like those with a powder-coating finish or soda-lime glass.

4. Highlight Flora With Garden Landscape Lighting

If you have a beautiful garden, use landscape lighting show off all your hard work. Place garden lights near beautiful blooms, superb shrubs, and pretty plants. That way, you never miss the chance to see your garden in all its glory once the sun goes down.

While shopping for garden light fixtures, keep two considerations in mind: light direction and light color. During the summer, your garden may become a hub in your home where you and your loved ones gather frequently. If so, you want it to be one of the coziest spots on your property.

For light direction in your garden, choose features that direct light down to the ground, so you don’t blind anyone marveling at your green thumb! As far as light color, you may prefer fixtures that create ambient lighting. Give your garden a soft, inviting, and intimate glow with warm white landscape lighting.

5. Create an Oasis With Pool Lights

Pool lighting is all about being strategic with how you illuminate an area where you and guests spend a lot of time. Rather than a floodlight’s intense light, choose soft lighting to create a calm mood around your pool while marking the pool’s perimeter clearly. A handful of light fixtures can get the job done while making your pool look breathtaking. 

Much like garden lighting, be careful of blinding others with pool lighting. Avoid lighting around seating areas by the pool. Instead, you can hang wall sconces or bistro lights to illuminate seating with ambient lighting.

Light up your yard with landscape lighting from Haven Lighting. You’ve got five lighting designs to try, so see which you warm up to while staying cool this summer.