Hi Everyone, I really need some help trying to decide how best to light my front yard. We have a few different areas that we wanted to light and in the DIY spirt I'll be doing this myself with no previous experience so I really need some assistance in a good balanced design (not over / under doing it). Left Side of Driveway: We have three (3) weeping cherry trees that we wanted to uplight. We don't have a large mulch bed around these so I was thinking installing a shielded in-ground well light (Salt Dog MR16) instead of a spot light because I wanted to keep things as close to the tree as possible. Alternatively we could expand the mulch around all of these plants and install spot lights but my wife is hesitant in doing that Planting Bed @ Bay Window: I was thinking about doing one (1) spot light of each side of the bay window and three (3) Path Lights spaced between the evergreens Center Planter: I was thinking about either an upturned flood light (round wall wash) to light the entire canopy or three (3) well lights maybe? Front Tree: I was thinking about uplighting the tree with a floor light from the front planing bed but was concerned with light pollution getting into my bedroom which is in that front corner of the house. Alternatively can I install a Salty Dog in the grass or am I crazy? It seems like this one would be the easy one to leave out because of the center planter and bay window lights as both of this side of the home. Side House Planting Bed: I was thinking about installing three (3) Path lights I'm trying to keep it classy, any assistance / opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Hi, Joseph. I've diagrammed several of your photos to illustrate some possible approaches to lighting your home and yard. First, at risk of putting you in the doghouse with your wife, I highly recommend that you define a wider mulched area around the base of that the row of weeping cherry trees and other shrubs as well as the large tree near that front border garden. For that row of shrubs, you could create a long, oval shaped "island" (to mimic the contours of that section of grass), or simply widen the mulch circle around each plant. The goal is to create a mulched area roughly the width of the canopy of each plant (your circular garden nails it). Not only will it help to retain moisture and block weeds but it also gives these young trees and shrubs a buffer zone between the lawn that will protect the trees and lighting fixtures from potential lawn equipment damage. It'll also be much easier to mow and trim around your plants (especially if you go with the mulch island approach I mentioned previously. Lastly, it will give your landscaping more cohesion (since you already have defined mulch areas). Fixture wise, either well lights or spot lights would work. If you decide against widening the mulch bed, my recommendation would be well lights for those cherry trees. In terms of your facade, I've indicated the areas I would either uplight (photos with yellow graphics) or downlight (see photo with orange graphics), if you feel ambitious enough to go with soffit lighting. If you go with uplighting, I recommend spotlights or floodlights to highlight those shrubs in the foundation garden. If you decide that area surrounding the bay window is too dark, illuminating those shrubs will add some "fill light". You expressed some concerns about light trespass into upper floor windows if you illuminate that large tree. If you go with a light beam spread of no more than 60° in your spots or well lights, you should be able to illuminate the trunk of the tree and some of the canopy/foliage without too much (or any) light spilling into your windows. In the circular garden, you could go with either spotlights or well lights to illuminate the canopy of that tree. Above ground spotlights are more convenient to position and aim but if you want a more minimalist look, you can go with well lights. I also recommend that you illuminate the trunk of that tree there with one or more spots. In my own yard, I've flanked the tree so that the illuminated trunk can be viewed from both indoors and from the street. On the right side of your house, I like the idea of illuminating those shrubs/ornamental grasses there. You could either project their shadows onto the side of the house or simply front light them. With the fixtures aimed towards your house and if you stay with lower lumens lamps (I wouldn't go brighter than 2w spots or floods there), you should be able to avoid creating an excessive amount of light pollution or offending your neighbors. Hope this helps to get you started.
