Installing Driveway Lighting for Safety and Marital Harmony
Posted by Landscaper | Filed under Driveway Lights
We spend a lot of time discussing the aesthetic value of landscape lighting on this site. After all, it’s the beauty of a well lit garden at night that attracts most people to the concept. But the truth is that there are some truly practical reasons to install landscape lighting that deserve equal billing including safety considerations. We’ll be focusing on driveway lighting today thanks to a recent “discussion” with my wife.
The discussion in question occurred the morning following my late night return home from a business trip. I had a sense of what it would be about because as I backed into our darkened driveway the night before I felt the distinct change from tires on paving stone to tires on distinctly softer fare. But I was beat and didn’t give it much thought. What damage could I have done to the lawn anyway, right?
Not much, it turned out. But I did a hell of a number on the planting bed my wife had spent the weekend on. She wasn’t pleased and my defensiveness didn’t help. But what could I do, right? It wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t because I was indifferent to her hard work that I ran over the early spring flowers. Ultimately it was because we don’t have any driveway lights and the light from our porch lights or any of our other landscaping lights doesn’t reach that particular curve in the driveway.
So the next step of course is to consider my options. Believe it or not there are several to consider. Solar driveway lights, the trusty mushroom style lights and even paver lights come immediately to mind. There’s also the option of installing lights in the trees along my driveway to downlight the area but that’s a bit more effort than I feel like investing right now so let’s consider the other options.
Solar lights are great for one reason only; they’re simple. There’s no low voltage wire to run and no digging to worry about. The downside, of course, is that they don’t give off much light. That’s not a problem for this application because I’m not looking too illuminate the entire driveway. Driveway lighting need do little more than outline the borders of your driveway. Unfortunately the shade from the trees in my yard means the lights won’t get enough sun.
Installing low voltage edge lighting along the perimeter of the driveway might be an option. It will require a bit more work than solar lights because I have to run the cable for it, but it will guarantee me strong illumination that’s certain to come on regardless how much sunlight we’ve had during the day. My big concern here is that these above-ground lights will complicate mowing and there’s always the slim – cough – possibility that I could run over and break one of them.
Paver lights are my preferred choice. These replace existing pavers or can be planted in the grass along the edge of the driveway. Better yet, they are recessed so I don’t have to worry about anybody running over them. Ideally I’d install them in the existing pave design but that might be problematic. That’s an option best left for new driveway installations. Retrofitting an existing driveway can be a serious challenge.
The point of this post, though, is to point out that you shouldn’t think of landscape lighting simply in terms of beautifying your garden. Whether you’re installing driveway lights or garden lights you should recognize they also serve a utilitarian purpose and any lighting consideration should be approached with beauty, safety and function in mind. Or you can elect to run over your wife’s daffodils and deal with the consequences the following morning if that floats your boat.
Tags: driveway lighting, Driveway Lights, garden lights, landscape lighting, landscaping lights, paver lights
One Response to “Installing Driveway Lighting for Safety and Marital Harmony”
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Friends, Fish and Landscape Lighting | Outdoor Garden Landscaping Lights Says:
May 5th, 2010 at 2:14 am[...] last post on the practical side of landscape lighting – driveway lighting – felt a bit dry. I get it. Lights serve mostly to keep us from bumping our shins on stuff at [...]
