Important Things to Know About Outdoor Garden Light Fixtures

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GardenGuru | Jun 3, 2010 |

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Installing landscape, or garden, lighting is a great way to add security, value, and beauty to your home when they're installed correctly. However, not installing them correctly can result in your home looking tacky and just plain unappealing. If you want to have the best lighting for your garden, here are a few things that you should know about installing outdoor garden light fixtures.

Less Light is More

For many people, there is a temptation to install lots of lights to try to see everything in your landscape at night. However, this is a sure-fire route to overlighting your property, making it more unappealing, and even contributing to light pollution. The rule of thumb you should always follow is that less light is more.

Instead of trying to light up everything in your property, focus on a few main, interesting aspect of your landscape. These can be trees, shrubs, flower beds, or even the facades of your house. See how these look when lit and then move to other less important areas. With less light you're better able to enjoy the subtleties of the night instead of baking under unforgiving halogen lights.

Know the Limitations of Solar Lights

If you use them right, solar garden lights can be really effective and help to reduce your home's energy bills compared to other lighting methods. However, there are several important limitations to them that you have to keep in mind,. First, they need to get several hours of direct sunlight each day. This means that they can't be kept in shady areas. If your lights are put in areas with lots of shade, they may work initially but then they will quickly wear out.

Also make sure that you don't limit yourself to just solar lights. If you do, you will really limit many of the choices you would otherwise have for light fixtures. There are a a lot of solar lights on the market today, however smaller lights, such as recessed bulbs don't have the area on them needed to support a solar cell. By only considering solar lights you're cutting out your access to these lights and several other types of lights.

Don't Forget About Functional Lighting

When you're designing your garden light plans, make sure that you always plan your functional lighting first, before you even consider placing any decorative lighting. Some people will place their decorative lighting, which can look great, but then are stuck without any functional light. Or when they do finally install functional light they may be surprised to find out it ruins their entire lighting scheme. Always install your functional light first.

These are just three tips to help you understand installing garden light fixtures. Start looking around for some today for your property to make it more beautiful, secure, and functional.