Incorporating lighting around a house is a great way to increase its aesthetic appeal as well as functionality. Landscape lighting helps you to extend your time in your outdoor spaces, making it a really important addition.
But that’s all assuming that you have a great lighting design. It’s important to keep in mind that not all lighting is created equally. Just like any other landscaping project, it’s important to work with a professional who will ensure that you get the most out of landscape lighting.
In this article, we’ll dive into some of the ways that outdoor lighting around a house can improve your Bozeman or Big Sky, MT property.
One of the ways that lighting can benefit your property is by making it more appealing. With the right lighting techniques, your outdoor spaces can take on a whole new “look” in the evening hours.
Downlighting can be used to light up a pathway in an aesthetically appealing way that mimics the moonlight while uplighting can be used to illuminate those beautiful trees and shrubs you have in your yard.
When creating an outdoor lighting design, we like to say that “less is more.”
You obviously need to be able to get around your space safely but light pollution can impact your view of the nighttime sky—something that we strongly cherish here in beautiful Montana. We know that people love looking at the stars and it’s important that lighting does not impact that experience in a negative way.
Unfortunately, we do see lighting mistakes made where bright spotlights or over-the-top lighting is installed. This can really make lighting stand out in a negative way.
The goal should be “just the right amount” of lighting.
There is also a significant safety factor to consider when thinking about adding landscape lights for a house. Without lights, it can get VERY dark on a Montana property….particularly if you live in a somewhat remote area.
That can be one of the reasons why we can see the stars so well (as mentioned above). However, it can also make your property hazardous to navigate.
Landscape lighting can be done in a strategic way so that you can see where you’re going but that it’s not so overwhelming it affects the wonder of the nighttime sky.
A landscape professional will pay close attention to lighting areas like walkways and stairs in a way that still maintains the beauty of your property.
In terms of safety, we’re generally talking about trips and falls. But when it comes to security, we’re talking about deterring problems.
While crime is low here in Bozeman and Big Sky, MT, we also know that many people have vacation homes where they aren’t always staying. For that reason, landscape lighting can be valuable in keeping unwanted trespassers away.
Many people have security cameras on their property and the value of these additions is increased with proper lighting. After all, the cameras won’t do much good if you can’t see what they’ve captured.
Of course, the local wildlife also poses a challenge when installing landscape lighting. Since animals do frequently pass through our clients’ properties, we have to be mindful of how to avoid having lighting elements broken.
We rarely use landscape lighting on stakes in the ground because inevitably a moose or other animal will step on it and break it.
As we said at the beginning of this article, in order to get the most out of landscape lighting, it’s important to work with a skilled professional. There are certainly lighting mistakes that can be made that will do more harm than good.
One mistake is to work with a company that is using outdated technology. At Blanchford Landscape Group, we have moved exclusively into offering LED lighting, which is the latest in lighting technology. There are some key benefits to this. LED bulbs last longer, are more durable, and are more energy efficient (meaning your energy bill will not rise significantly).
You also want to work with a company that is using the highest quality lighting fixtures. We sometimes find that people assume they can just install some lighting on their own, but that often means using low-quality products.
In general, it’s important that you’re not skimping on landscape lighting products. The landscape lighting fixtures that you can purchase in a big box store are going to be subpar to anything that a professional landscape lighting designer is using.
These cheap materials won’t hold up to the Montana weather and will end up needing replacement over time. It makes more sense to invest in a higher-quality product that’s going to stand the test of time.
Finally, as we’ve expressed in this article, you want to work with a company that will take the design into account. While high-quality, professionally installed landscape lighting can be a substantial investment, it’s one that can also be incredibly valuable and enhance your use and enjoyment of your outdoor space.
At Blanchford Landscape Group, we love creating amazing outdoor living spaces and know that landscape lighting is a critical component of that.
To help create the best possible spaces, our design process is comprehensive and thorough. That means that we’ll look at your space and make design decisions that will work best for you—not only for the lighting but for all aspects of the work.
In the end, your decision in choosing the right landscape designer is a big one. But by choosing wisely now, you can prevent so many problems on the back end. In fact, by making that wise choice in landscape design companies, you can ditch the worries about how your project will come together and instead simply enjoy watching your vision take shape.
Are you ready to get the process of designing your landscape lighting at your Bozeman or Big Sky, MT home? Let’s connect and talk about your project. Then, we can meet and begin talking about your ideas!