night landscape lights paver driveway 2

5 Popular Lighting Techniques to Enhance the Look of Your Property at Night

Having landscape lighting installed on your property is a great way to illuminate your outdoor space at night so you can use it after the sun sets. However, many people don't realize that landscape lighting also has a big impact on the overall ambiance of your property. Lighting can be used to draw attention to focal points on your property that you're proud of and want to show off, such as beautiful palm trees that are native to Florida or hardscaping features such as outdoor kitchens or water features. If you are planning on having landscape lighting installed on your property, you may want to use one of these 5 popular lighting techniques: uplighting, shadowing, wall grazing, silhouette lighting, and moonlighting. Each of these techniques can be used to bring your outdoor living space to life once the sun goes down.


1. Uplighting

Uplighting technique in landscape bed for outdoor lighting in Sarasota, FL.

Uplighting is a lighting technique that involves strategically placing lights at the base of an object and pointing the lights upwards. By shining the light directly up at an object, you can make the object stand out. This lighting technique is commonly used to highlight trees, columns, or any other points of interest on a property.


2. Shadowing

Shadowing light technique installed in Siesta Key, FL.

Shadowing is a popular lighting technique where lights are placed below an object and pointed towards the object to cast a shadow on the wall behind it. This lighting technique is popular to use when highlighting trees because you'll be able to see the shadows of the leaves and branches on the wall. This technique is more designed to draw attention to the unique shape of the object rather than the object itself.


3. Wall Grazing

Wall grazing lighting technique installed by pool in Lakewood Ranch, FL.

Wall grazing is a lighting technique that is used to highlight the unique textures or irregular surfaces of a wall. You can also use this lighting technique to illuminate columns, statues, or sculptures. This technique is accomplished by placing lights near whatever feature you are wanting to highlight and then directing the beam of light across the surface of the object.


4. Silhouette Lighting

Silhouette lighting installed for landscape plantings by pool in Palmetto, FL.

Silhouette lighting is a lighting technique that blends uplighting and shadowing. Lights are placed at the base of an object so that light shines upwards to highlight it. However, you also want to ensure there is a wall behind the object so that you can create a silhouette of the object you are illuminating on the wall.


5. Moonlighting

As its name implies, moonlighting is used to mimic the natural look of a moonlit night. To accomplish moonlighting, you will need to install lights at the top of a tall tree and shine the lights down so that the light washes over the property from above. To ensure that you create the look of a natural moonlit night, you'll want to ensure that lights can't easily be seen in the trees so the lights themselves aren't attracting attention.

Moonlighting can make it safer to traverse your property at night since you'll be better able to see any potential tripping hazards.


Looking to illuminate your property at night? Give us a call to schedule our landscape lighting service!

If you're looking to bring your property to life at night so you can enjoy your outdoor living space even after the sun has set, it's time to take advantage of our landscape lighting service. We can bring illuminate your property and highlight focal points that you want to show off using various lighting techniques. We offer our landscape lighting service to commercial, residential, and HOA properties in Sarasota, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, FL and throughout the surrounding areas. Give us a call today at (941) 993-2442 to schedule this service. We look forward to working with you!