A1 Lighting Magazine September 2022 How to get Landscape Lighting Right.
A1 Lighting Magazine September 2022 How to get Landscape Lighting Right
Neil Parslow, Director of Neil Parslow Design and Light Visuals Ltd tells us how to get landscape lighting just right.
Good landscape lighting is not easy to achieve, with the most obvious challenges being that
there are no ceilings to mount down lights, gardens continually changing throughout the seasons, and the life of the plants.
Understanding plant material is crucial in deciding how to approach the lighting of each tree or shrub. Is the foliage a mature focal tree with dense reflective evergreen, like a laurel or magnolia? Or is it semi- translucent from a deciduous oak or ash.
Landscape lighting can also extend our interior spaces and enjoyment of our gardens during the winter months, which would otherwise be lost to the darkness much earlier in the evening, or in the early morning. The use of subtle contrasting light levels within the garden around important features or focal points will provide people with either a view to the outside or will entice them to venture out into the garden, through illuminated visual destinations at the furthest points or intersections in the landscape design.
Cohesion of lighting is very important, by coupling different zones or areas together within the overall design will provide the viewer with a soft transition and ease of visual navigation from one area to another. This is paramount when viewed from one central location,
as the viewers eyes would tend to bounce back and forth from each area if cohesion has not been integrated into the design. This in turn will tire people’s eyes very quickly.
Vertical elements should be considered for inclusion into designs from the outset, as humans see these prior to horizontal features like paths and steps. From boundary walls and hedging to water features and architectural structures and buildings, lighting these features will aid navigation throughout the garden space.
Glare is a very important factor the designer must have full control of if the lighting design is to be successful, as it is the effect of the lighting which should be seen, and not the light source. This can be achieved with the use of rotational angle cut glare shields and snoots, along with internal hex baffle louvres and dimming. However, be sure to use glare shields with full drainage included so as not to create a build-up of water on the lens, which over time will leave mineral deposits on the lens as the water evaporates and will increase maintenance of the luminaire.
A successful landscape lighting design requires the use of higher quantities of light fittings but with very low outputs, typically from only half a watt to six or seven watts for larger trees. Using fewer products with higher outputs tends to create a flat washed-out appearance.
Coloured LED’s or filters should be limited in a scheme as I believe there is enough natural colour within the landscape already, so I would typically use 3000K for the bulk of the lighting of plants and trees.