Many homeowners are getting their lawns ready for summer months.
The following is an extract from the American Lighting Association(ALA), Proper outdoor lighting can make a landscape beautiful as well as bright flowerbeds, manicured shrubs, and lush lawns.
Jeff Dross is the corporate director for lighting education and industry trends at Kichler Lighting. He recently stated that landscape lighting is a growing trend among homeowners.
Use indirect lighting
Dross states that homeowners are shifting to indirect lighting for their landscaping. This basically uses a source of light to reflect the light emitted from the fixture. This gives off a more atmospheric tone and allows the light to spread more efficiently along walls. Indirect lighting is used to illuminate flowers, gardens, bushes and other decorative landscaping art. Also, indirect lighting will create a nice lit walkway around flowerbeds because the light bounces off the ground.
The Shift towards LEDs
LED bulbs are becoming the dominant landscape lighting product. Outdoor lights and landscape lighting are more common than other home lighting. This makes them less expensive and more practical.
Additionally, LEDs can also be made in smaller sizes. This gives homeowners more options for using them in unusual spaces. Dross explained that because LEDs are small, they can also be used for aesthetic purposes. It is easy to integrate LEDs into hardscape designs, as the style provides both indirect lighting and passageway lighting for stone and brick landscapes.
Be Simple
Simple and clean landscaping lighting is a key trend. This means that more homeowners are choosing to use fewer ground fixtures to illuminate their home. Dross says that residents who place their light fixtures in an orderly, organized manner along a walkway are wasting a lot of light and energy.
Simpler designs can still be attractive and highlight flowers, while providing just enough light to illuminate the backyard or patio. A lot of homeowners are opting for less lumens in their light fixtures. This allows light beams to spread more effectively and evenly across the entire light source.
Visit an ALA showroom near you to learn more about landscape lighting. www.americanlightingassoc.com.
