All Lit Up

Outdoor lighting techniques and options for your backyard landscape

By Kendall Green 

Adding lighting to your backyard has numerous benefits. It can create drama and beauty, increase security, and allow you to use your outdoor space more often. With the many techniques and types of lighting available, you’ll need to do some planning before you buy. Decide what purpose lighting should serve in your backyard and evaluate the installation requirements for each type of lighting.

Plan Ahead

If you are just beginning to have your yard landscaped or renovated, keep lighting in mind, even if you don’t plan to install it right away. When doing surface installations—such as paved walkways, stone pavers, and patios—have a bunch of sleeves (conduits) installed anywhere that you may need electricity or plumbing at some point in the future. In addition to lighting, you may wish to add water features, a stereo system, irrigation system, or even an invisible fence—all of which require electricity to run (unless you opt for solar power only). 

High vs. Low Voltage

Outdoor lighting systems can be configured one of two ways: low voltage (12 V) or high/line voltage (110 V). The majority of all residential outdoor lighting are low voltage. They offer the most variety of fixtures, are less expensive, and can be installed by the homeowners. Low-voltage systems use a transformer to reduce the line voltage to 12 V. If fixtures are installed far away from the house, multiple transformers may be needed to maintain effective lighting.

High-voltage systems use larger and brighter fixtures. They are used on commercial applications and on certain residences where a lot of bright uplighting is required, such as a large group of trees. High-voltage systems require a licensed electrician because the installation is complex: Your yard must be trenched so the cables can be buried 18 inches underground and connected to a conduit. 

Techniques and Placement

Using a variety of lighting techniques, you can determine the best mix of effects to illuminate your backyard landscape. In addition to lighting trees, plants, and pathways, features such as waterfalls, fountains, planters, and statuaries come to life at night when lit up.   

Uplighting, also called spotlighting, focuses attention on a particular object, such as a tree, statue, or arbor. By uplighting a wall or another broad surface with a wash light, objects in front will be silhouetted. Placing an uplight behind a tree and angling it toward the tree gives it a backlit effect, slightly less dramatic than a silhouette.   

Moonlighting, or downlighting, casts soft light downward (like the moon) to create subtle shadows on plant beds, walkways, and other desired areas. Moonlighting is dimmer than uplighting and offers the most natural appearance. Many different effects can be created based on the fixtures’ angle and particular placement in a tree. The higher and deeper the fixture, the more shadows are created as light disperses through foliage. Fixtures angled down toward a smaller tree or shrub emulate a genuine moonlit effect. To make the space surrounding a tree appear broader, point a fixture toward the back of the tree. To accentuate textures, angle two fixtures in a crisscross pattern, but be sure to space them appropriately to avoid any glare.  

Path lighting is both functional and attractive; it aims light downward, helping to outline the path. Many homeowners opt for visible fixtures (such as solar lights) that are placed in the ground, spaced evenly along the path. Other homeowners may choose step lighting, which can be installed during construction or mounted to the surface of existing steps. Often, mounting lights to the side walls of the steps is more effective than lighting the risers. Lights can also be added under railings and benches. 

Incorporating patio lights along with landscape lighting will make your whole outdoor space usable. If your patio is covered, you can install recessed lighting with dimmer switches, a fan that includes lights, and/or a chandelier. 

If you have a deck, you can replace deck post finials with solar LED lamps; these appear just as decorative during the day and light up the deck’s perimeter at night. 

Photo courtesy of Gasper Landscape Design & Construction; Photography by Rob Cardillo

Easy Accents

Want to “lighten the mood” at your next dinner party or evening affair? These unique items use lighting as a subtle accent and are sure to spark interest among guests.

Create a charming centerpiece with mini lanterns that house tea light candles, adding a warm glow around each table in your backyard setting.







Serving two purposes, these decorative flower dishes can be used as a candle holder or candy dish. When placed at every place setting, they can add an unexpected flicker of light, or a tasty treat!







Get the party going with colorful lighted ice cubes. They last anywhere from 30 hours to 120 hours, and can be turned on and off, so you can use them for many different affairs. 








Photos courtesy of Smarty Had a Party