Types Of Outdoor Landscape Lighting: 7 Must-Have Fixtures
Find The Ideal Types Of Outdoor Landscape Lighting For Your Maryland, DC, Or Northern Virginia Home
These types of outdoor landscape lighting can transform your home. You can see how brightening your paths, yards/gardens, and other areas can create a warm and beautiful oasis of light. Let’s accompany Lisa & Michael as they learn about 7 fixtures for lighting landscapes.
7 types of outdoor landscape lighting fixtures:
- Spotlights
- Flood Lights
- Up/Downlights
- Step Lights
- Garden Lights
- Bollard Lights
- String Lights
We Could Have It Too, You Know
“Our neighbor’s new landscape lighting makes their yard look amazing,” Lisa says to her husband, Michael.
“It does look nice, maybe we should think about installing a few of our own,” says Michael. Lisa agrees, but there is just one problem:
They don’t know much about landscape lighting.
Lisa considers this problem as Michael pulls into their dark driveway, accidentally running over the same patch of grass everyone does. “Ugh, I can never see it when we’re coming home at night. I’m going to have to reseed it again,” he grumpily grumbles.
Tired of having such a dark exterior, the couple decides to start looking into outdoor landscape lighting.
“Ok,” Lisa exclaims, “Let’s start with finding out the different types of outdoor lights there are. Then we can go from there to design or calling the best lighting contractors in Maryland.” Michael likes the sound of that. After fumbling the key into their front door they go to their computer.
It’s time to do some research on outdoor lights.
7 Types Of Outdoor Landscape Lights
1. Spotlights
This is a general term for lights that point only in 1 direction.
It’s a general term because spotlights become a certain type of light when used in a certain way. For example, if you point a spotlight upwards at a wall, it becomes an uplight that creates a wall grazing effect.
Spotlights can range in brightness and amount of area they cover. They often illuminate statues, plants, walls, patios, and anything you can point it at.
Learn more about spotlights >>
2. Flood Lights
Flood lights are the most useful of the types of outdoor landscape lights for brightening large areas. They are spotlights with a high brightness and wide coverage range. They often illuminate driveways and patios from above.
“This will be perfect for the driveway. No more running over that same patch of grass for me!” Michael says with a breath of relief. Lisa smiles and continues on to the next landscape light type.
3. Up/Downlights
“These will work great between the hedges and our house walls,” Lisa says, “It’ll make it look safer and better.”
Great tips on landscape lighting design >>
4. Step Lights
It’s all in the name. Step lights go either on walls beside the stairs or on the front, vertical face.
The couple both think back to times they almost (or did) fall/trip/slide/stumble down stairs in the dark. There’s no question that these types of outdoor landscape lights will light up their deck stairs.
5. Garden Lights
Placing them in natural areas can show your favorite and most beautiful plants to the world. They’re almost like beautiful mushrooms of light. The light goes downwards and slightly out. This way everyone will see the plants instead of spots from looking at a bulb.
“My mums and daylilies will look amazing with some garden lights on them,” Lisa exclaims, bursting with excitement.
6. Bollard Lights
These are posts with lights right on the top. No light shield/cover. Bollard lights are one of the only types of outdoor landscape lights that can shine in every direction.
7. String Lights
An Exciting Transformation
We’d be happy to help illuminate your home >>