The 10-percent cost increase lighting usually adds to a landscape project often allows property owners to benefit from their outdoor spaces 10 times as much, making it a practical investment, contends Ken DePratt, president of KD Poolscapes, Franksville, Wisconsin. “Lighting gives homeowners a different time of day – night – to enjoy their backyard,” DePratt says. “That’s when most people have time to enjoy it – after work.”

Jim O’Loughlin, vice president of marketing for All American Turf Beauty, a Nite Time Décor franchisee in Van Meter, Iowa, says a growing number of people are interested in outdoor lighting, either to showcase their homes, entertain in their backyards, or improve security.

In some markets, lighting has gone from basic – illuminating paths and the occasional tree – to complex lighting systems that wash structures and many landscape elements with soft, ambient light, says Mitch Kalamian, principal and landscape designer, Solena Landscape,
Huntington Beach, California. A mature tree, for instance, requires at least three lights in order to be lit effectively, he says. The latest trend is to light water features abundantly. “We’re designing more elaborate water features, and lighting has to keep up with that,” Kalamian says. Fiber-optic lighting, with its ability to display numerous colors and light shows, is becoming a popular option for water features.

Here’s how three landscape companies used lighting to bring a new dimension to recent projects.

1. Highlighting an architectural gem
Objective: Light the historic Stockman House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and now a Mason City, Iowa, museum, so the public can appreciate the renowned architect’s work at night.

Challenges: The board of directors in charge of the museum hired Nite Time Décor by All American Turf Beauty to handle the project. The historical significance of the 1908 structure required the company follow preservation rules. For example, no fixtures or wires could be mounted to the building and fixtures could not be visible. The company had to position fixtures in their proposed locations and gather the entire board of directors for a nighttime demonstration to approve installation.

The plan: Uplighting was the best way to highlight the architectural details of the Stockman House, says Jim O’Loughlin with All American Turf Beauty. This method allowed light to fill the home’s expansive eaves and spill back with a soft, warm glow. To create the effect, the company used 15 low-voltage well lights with various lenses on them to spread light appropriately. Workers either buried the fixtures or installed them in specially built metal risers needed to prevent shrubbery, which couldn’t be pruned, from interfering with the light. Positioned behind the shrubs, the risers are hidden, but raise the fixtures to the necessary level. Deciding what to light was relatively easy, O’Loughlin says. “We were following the lines of the world’s greatest architect,” he says. “There are nice lines to the house – the lighting just followed them.” The company also concentrated on lighting the home’s many corners.

Outcome: “They’re extremely happy,” O’Loughlin says of the board members, who wrote a testimonial for All American Turf Beauty, explaining how pleased they are with the project. O’Loughlin says the company has received many compliments regarding the job.