LANDSCAPE LIGHTING WORLD® FORUMS

Flood light or well light?

Discussion in 'Ask the Landscape Lighting Experts' started by LarryR, Apr 21, 2018.

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  1. LarryR

    LarryR New Member

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    I'm lighting a river birch tree. I already have 3 floods 20-25 feet away from the base of the tree pointing upward to light the branches. Now I want to uplight the trunk of the tree from the base to highlight the very nice bark texture.

    My question is: should I use a spotlight that will be pointed pretty much straight up, or would a well light be better? All light fixtures are low voltage. Pedestrian traffic is not an issue. Possibility of damage by landscapers is a consideration, but it’s not likely to happen.

    Also, beyond this specific application, what are factors to consider when choosing between an upwardly pointing flood light or a well light?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Lumiscape

    Lumiscape New Member

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    I almost never use well lights. Even bullets will catch debris and leaves, but well lights are always messy. Traffic or vandalism? - use well lights, other than that, go with floods.
     
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  3. Lumiscape

    Lumiscape New Member

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    Sorry, I missed the first sentence. One thing to consider when you are lighting a tree trunk is the beam width of the bulb
    . For a River Birch I would use something around 35-40 deg, for a palm tree, around 15 deg. for a squatty tree, like a Ligustrum or a Vitex, a 60 deg. lamp
     
    Joe Garrick likes this.