Landscape lighting is an integral aspect of outdoor decor that accentuates your property's beauty while providing safety and security. It can transform your property into an inviting, aesthetically pleasing space that stands out even after dusk. This guide covers the different types of landscape lighting, where to place them, how to size your transformer, and design techniques for the best results.
Why Landscape Lighting Matters
- Aesthetic Appeal: Strategically placed lights cast a warm, inviting glow that accentuates your home's architectural features and landscaping, dramatically improving curb appeal.
- Safety and Security: A well-lit outdoor space deters potential intruders and illuminates pathways, reducing the risk of tripping or falling after dark.
- Increased Property Value: A beautifully lit exterior makes a strong first impression on potential buyers, adding measurable curb appeal and perceived value.
What to Light in Your Yard
Architectural Features: Walls, columns, and unique design elements can be accentuated with uplighting or wall grazing.
Garden and Plantings: Prized trees, shrubs, or flower beds can be highlighted with spotlights or well lights for dramatic nighttime effect.
Paths and Walkways: Lighting up paths, walkways, and driveways adds to aesthetics and ensures safe navigation after dark.
Water Features: Ponds, fountains, and water features lit with submersible or adjacent landscape lights create mesmerizing reflections after sunset.
Types of Landscape Lighting
Spotlights and Floodlights
Spotlights project a concentrated, narrow beam ideal for uplighting trees and architectural features. Floodlights illuminate a wider area, making them ideal for large facades or open lawn areas.
Path Lights
Path lights line walkways and driveways, casting a soft diffused light that adds safety and a warm, welcoming glow to your property.
Well Lights
Also known as in-ground lights, well lights are flush-mounted in the ground and shine upward. Ideal for uplighting trees, plantings, or architectural features without visible hardware above grade.
Deck and Step Lights
Installed directly into deck boards or stair risers, deck and step lights improve safety by illuminating transition areas and reducing the risk of tripping.
Hardscape Lights
Installed onto or into structures such as retaining walls, pillars, and steps, hardscape lights wash and graze surfaces with light to reveal texture and depth.
How to Install Landscape Lighting
- Lay Out the Components: Place all lights around your yard before connecting anything. Adjust placement until satisfied with the layout.
- Connect the Lights: Connect fixtures to the low-voltage cable, then connect the cable run to the transformer.
- Test at Dusk: Fine-tune placement at dusk — enough residual daylight to work safely, dark enough to evaluate the lighting effect.
- Cover the Cables: A light layer of mulch or soil conceals cables. Running cables along hardscaping edges provides extra protection and makes them easier to locate later.
How to Size a Landscape Transformer
- Add the wattage of all fixtures (e.g., 5 lights × 20W = 100W total).
- Multiply by 1.5 for a safety buffer (100W × 1.5 = 150W).
- Select a transformer rated at or above that wattage (150W minimum).
This 50% headroom prevents the transformer from running at full capacity, extending its lifespan and allowing for future fixture additions.
Benefits of LED Landscape Lighting
- Energy Efficiency: LED landscape lights use up to 75% less energy than incandescent equivalents.
- Long Lifespan: Rated for 25,000–50,000 hours, eliminating frequent bulb replacements in hard-to-reach locations.
- More Fixtures Per Transformer: LEDs draw so few watts that you can run significantly more fixtures on any given transformer.
Landscape Lighting Design Techniques
For a full breakdown of design techniques, read our Introduction to Landscape Lighting Design.
Highlighting: Use spotlights to uplight key architectural features or specimen trees.
Silhouetting: Place spotlights or well lights behind a plant or object, creating a dramatic silhouette against a lit wall or fence.
Moonlighting: Mount spotlights high in trees angled downward to simulate soft, dappled moonlight filtering through branches.
Grazing: Position well lights or hardscape lights close to a flat surface to rake across its texture, revealing depth and dimension in stone, brick, or wood.
Shop Landscape Lighting at Bees Lighting
We carry a professional selection of low-voltage and line-voltage landscape lighting fixtures including spotlights, path lights, well lights, hardscape lights, deck lights, and transformers.
Need help designing a landscape lighting layout or sizing a transformer? Call our technical team at 855-303-0665 for free project support.
