I'm attempting to up light some 20' tall regal prince oak trees. I had just purchased one G2 fat-boy spotlight but only seem to illuminate the bottom 2/3 of the tree (5 watt bulb - positioned at 40 degrees). Questions - do I need to (2) spotlights to better illuminate this tree and how do I get the light to go higher up the tree? Move it further away from the drip line? I can provide pictures if necessary..
A photo or two would help. Where are these trees? In a field? In front of your house? In front of taller trees? A wood fence? A red barn? What kind of setting? Urban (where there’s likely streetlights around) or more suburban or rural (where the ambient light can be quite low)? These factors can influence the kind of feedback you receive. Anyway, as the examples I’ve posted here demonstrate, there’s no single perfect way to light a tree. The Regal oaks I’ve seen have dense compact and glossy foliage and have fairly narrow columnar structure. Based on those characteristics, my impulse would be to light the trees like conifers or other evergreens. These trees and shrubs can be challenging to uplight from below because their canopy can be very dense. Try placing the fixtures just outside the drip line, try adjusting the glare guard to expose more of the lamp. You might even need to go with a lamp with a wider beam spread. I have 25 ft tall oak with a 25 ft diameter canopy. The branch structure is wide open and sprawling so it was quite easy to light it effectively using wide beam spread fixtures fairly close to the trunk. I wanted the the illuminated trunk to be visible from both the street and from my house so I flanked the trunk of the tree with a pair of spotlights and then placed a few well lights further out to uplight the canopy further. I personally think trees often look really amazing when they are only partially illuminated. It creates drama and complexity, imo. If you wanted a more three-dimensional effect, you probably want to use three or more fixtures equidistant just outside of the drip line. If you’re feeling stuck for inspiration, it might help for you to first reflect on lighting examples you’ve seen that may have piqued your interest in landscape lighting. Hth
