If you are looking for a large amount of light, whether for security purposes or because you want to light up a certain feature outside your home, then you will probably opt for outdoor flood lights.  These will provide the most light per lighting fixture and are very often used around garages and also as a way to highlight architectural features of the home or an interesting tree or landscaping feature in the front yard.

Another option is accent lighting.  This can run the gamut from a couple of low level lights placed among the flowers and shrubs, to lights that grace the edges of pathways, fences or other locations.  Many of these lights are solar powered, which works well because they don’t require bright levels of light and lights that run on solar power often don’t emit tons of light, so they work out well in this situation.  You can also opt for low voltage options in order to accent the outside of your home, which is another economical and energy efficient choice.

Then there are lights that many people are used to seeing outside a home.   Options like lantern or post lights that may grace a front walkway or a light that is placed near the front door or back door to provide some lighting at entryways are included in this group.  So, no matter what type of lighting you are looking to add outside your home, you should have no problem finding what you need.

landscape lighting

First Things First – Security

While you may want to get your accent lights in place so your garden and landscape can look beautiful, you should focus on getting your security lighting in place in the first phase. This is because you will need this lighting anyway and the sooner you improve the security of your home, the easier you can breathe and the more safe your family will feel.

Outdoor flood lights will be a natural choice to install at this point. These lights will supply light over a wide area and can be employed in an economical way so as to provide your entire landscape with illumination.

Outdoor pole lights can be employed to provide areas of darkness with light. You can use these at the corners of your property and point them to cover a wide area (much like flood lights).

You should place bright wall lights at doorways and openings and gates in fences. Lighting up walkways and paths can also provide some security in case you have to run in the middle of the night after a dog that has escaped through the back door.

Security is a very important matter and employing landscape lighting on your property is the first line of defense in protecting your family and your personal property.