Illuminate The Garden

DESIGN | by DEBRA PRINZING

ENJOY THE EVENING VIEWS WITH LANDSCAPE LIGHTING. Safety, utility and security are top reasons for designing an outdoor lighting system, according to Aime Lindsay, whose family owns Malibu-based Stone Manor Lighting. The functional use of outdoor lights is obvious, but Lindsay says the artistic use of illumination should also be incorporated into the garden’s overall design scheme.

SOURCE: STONE MANOR LIGHTING

“By lighting your backyard, you are adding hundreds, if not thousands, of square feet to your living space at night,” she says. “With the proper outdoor lighting, you can enjoy your garden in the evening and also make it appear more dramatic than it does during the daytime.”

Lindsay uses lighting to accentuate the best areas of her garden. She relies on warm-colored lights to add excitement and cool-colored lights to give the landscape a tranquil feeling.

Here are some of her design tips to inspire you:

• Path lighting: Usually low-impact (12- to 25-watt bulbs) path lighting is typically placed 10 to 12 feet apart, staggered to create pools of light that draw you along a path. It can illuminate walkways or highlight water features and falls.
• Area lighting: A grouping of lights or a hanging lantern used to illuminate a larger bed, border or small specimen tree.
• Wall lighting: A wash of light that sweeps along a vertical surface, such as a wall or fence. Sconces are the ideal type of fixture to throw a glow above or below (but not into) the eyes.
• Then there are lights you want to show off, like works of art. “The caveat in lighting has always been never to show the source,” Lindsay says. “But my lights are highly decorative in the landscape. Plus, the amber glow is pretty on plants.”