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
Don’t Let Your Landscape Lighting Make You the Neighborhood Nuisance
Posted by Landscaper | Filed under Landscape Lighting Advice, Outdoor Tree Lights, Planning Outside Lighting
In the grand scheme of things there are social snafus and then there are social snafus. The ones that make headlines include George Bush senior vomiting during a state dinner, George Bush junior giving a head of state a massage and John F Kennedy calling himself a jelly doughnut (for the record, Ich bin eine Berliner means I’m a jelly doughnut where as ich been auch aus Berlin more closely represents what he wanted to say). There was also a French lady who publicly announced that all she wanted out of life was a penis. Granted, the accent was to blame (she meant happiness) but you can imagine the guffaws.
On the not-so-grand a scale are the little snafus that have unintended consequences. In keeping with the theme of this blog, that means landscape lighting mistakes that can really piss off your neighbors.
You wouldn’t be the first and you certainly wouldn’t be the last were you to painstakingly setup the most amazing landscape lighting scheme only to wind up with lights shining directly into your neighbor’s windows. Nor would you be the first to hear about it either directly, through nasty note or through a community board investigation. The good news is that you can do a great deal to head off any potential ill-will.
It’s worth repeating as I have in other posts, that planning is your friend. Take the time to layout your design on paper before you begin work. As you do your garden walk through and jot down on paper where you’d like to place lights, stop at each location and look beyond your own garden to see where light spillover might intrude on your neighbor. This doesn’t mean you can’t place a light in that location, just that you’ll have to work with angles and accessories to ensure you’re not intruding on their lives.
As you put your lights in and test the angle of light they cast, step back and look over at your neighbor’s property. Any light spilling over onto their house or windows should prompt you to work on the angle a bit to eliminate the spillover. Don’t assume that the small amount of spillover is fine. What looks good from your angle may be glaring from theirs.
Not every light you install will warrant such careful consideration. Path lighting is designed to spread a pool of light downwards and is low enough in intensity to prevent offending all but the most easily offended neighbor. If you have such a neighbor, the kind who is just looking for something to complain about, you probably can’t win anyway.
On the other hand, spotlights or outdoor tree lights are often elevated above fence height and produce directional light. These can easily wind up illuminating areas of your neighbor’s property so you should pay particular care as you put them in. When you purchase such lights, invest in louvers for them. Not only will this allow you additional flexibility as you paint your yard with light, it will give you even more control over how much of that light spills over to where it isn’t wanted.
As mentioned, outdoor tree lights are a cause for concern. In fact, lights mounted in trees are probably the single greatest offenders here. When you mount lights in trees for moon lighting or down-lighting a seating area, you do so with your guests in mind. You do everything you can to avoid blinding them with light. The problem is that the angle from which you are viewing may look perfectly fine but the branches which are obstructing your view of the light sources may not be doing so from your neighbor’s perspective.
Even all the caution in the world doesn’t remove the obligation to be neighborly. When everything is installed, knock on your neighbor’s door and let them know you’ll be turning on all your landscape lighting that night to ensure none of it is a nuisance to them. Advise them to check in all their most occupied rooms and to let you know if any of the lights are bothersome. If they sign off on your project, you’re good to go and you may just have made a new friend by being courteous and considerate of their feelings.
Finally, think about using timers. For the most part a fully outfitted landscape lighting scheme won’t require timers. Most of us will only use our deck lights most of the time and reserve the full light-show for when we have guests over. For those who like to have all the lights blazing in the evenings and who might plan to go away on a vacation, ensure your timers will turn off your lights at a reasonable hour so as not to disturb your neighbors with the ambient glow.
There’s no reason you can’t enjoy the beauty of landscape lighting and keep the peace with your neighbors. A little bit of planning, testing and consideration go a long way. And while you’re at it, invite your neighbors over to your gatherings now and again. They’ll be far more tolerant of your lights if they get to enjoy them now and again rather than just being forced to endure them from a distance.
Tags: landscape lighting, landscaping lights, outdoor landscaping lights, Outdoor Tree Lights
