Adding Outdoor Garden Lighting to the Landscape
Outdoor garden lights are a great way to extend the use of a home’s outdoor space. Whether purchased to light a deck, patio or garden; or just to highlight certain plants or architectural features after the sun goes down, outdoor garden lighting can add value to a home.
Garden lights are typically installed for one of three reasons – security, illumination or highlighting garden features. From a security point of view, outdoor garden lighting is a terrific way to light areas around a house to discourage burglars from lurking in the shadows looking for the best way to break in. Motion detector lights are an example of outdoor garden lighting used for security. As the name suggests they sense nearby motion, triggering the light to come on. This is also a great safety feature for the homeowner coming home after dark because the lights turn on to illuminate a safe path to the door.
Garden lights installed for illumination are can also improve safety around the home. When outdoor garden lighting is employed, the chances of tripping or running into something in the dark are greatly reduced. Deck lights fall into this category because they help illuminate steps and edges to make sure no one trips. In addition to making the yard and garden safer, garden lights also add terrific ambiance to a home’s outdoor spaces so they can be used in the evening for social gatherings, or just for the family to enjoy a relaxing evening in the gardens.
Outdoor garden lights are also used to accent or highlight certain garden features. For example, up lighting can be used to spotlight a particular tree, plant, statue or fountain so they can be enjoyed throughout the evening. Decorative path lights serve a dual purpose, both lighting the way and highlighting ground level garden features along the way. In addition, decorative garden lights add to the landscape’s look in the daylight hours as well because they can add color or sparkle to the gardens as the sunlight reflects off them.
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