The Power of an Evening Demo: A Roswell Home’s Lighting Transformation

Initial Meeting and Brainstorming

Pat purchased a home in Roswell, and like most all of us, decided to make it his own. He painted the house, cut back overgrowth in the front and back yards, and then planted his own trees and bushes to enhance the beauty of the house and the property that it sits on.  The house had some preexisting landscape lighting along the front of the house, but none anywhere else on his property.  He reached out to see if I could help him improve his front yard and incorporate lighting in his new back yard.

I first met with him at the property during the day to do a walkthrough, and understand his goals.  In the front yard he showed me his existing lighting.  The lights were well placed along the front of his house between the windows, and two by the front door.  He showed me that two of them were no longer working, and upon an inspection I realized these lights had integrated LED bulbs so replacement bulbs were not an option.  He also pointed out that he has two newly planted arborvitae trees at the corners of the front of the house, a couple of camelia bushes on either side of the sidewalk by the front patio, a featured japanese maple in the middle of his yard, and a large crape myrtle next to the driveway and the front sidewalk.  All of these had no lighting on them, but could really boost the curb appeal and add depth if they did.

Then we moved to the fenced in backyard where the main feature is a stone firepit in the middle of the yard.  Along the back of the yard are a row of holly bushes that are 6-8 feet off of the fence line and 6-8 feet apart.  On the right side of the yard, a row of arborvitae trees planted closely together and near the fence line creates a natural, dense border.  Pat told me that when he and his family are enjoying the backyard at night, the light from the fire fades away and disappears into the darkness of his property. He said that he would like to enjoy all the landscaping work that he put into the yard at night and to be able to see his whole property.  

Now that we have done the walkthrough and understand the goals, I told him of a couple of different lighting techniques that can deliver the results he is looking for.  I discussed the options for lighting, including quality of material, temperature of lighting color, and price range.  Then we decided to move forward and schedule the evening lighting demonstration.  This will allow us to decide on which lighting design he would prefer, the amount of fixtures would be required, and the exact location each light would be placed.

The Front Yard: Adding Depth & Curb Appeal

The Power of the Evening Demonstration

A few days later I arrived back at the property, with my battery powered landscape lighting demo kit, after sunset to meet with Pat and his wife.  In the front yard I placed up lights at the japanese maple, crape myrtle, the two camelia bushes, and the arborvitae trees.  Standing at the road looking at the house these lights really elevated the curb appeal.  The property now seemed more 3 dimensional at night with lights at the different depths of the yard, as opposed to just having the lights along the front of the house.  We also decided that the two lights shining at the door were no longer needed, because the lights on the camelia bushes would guide guests down the sidewalk to the front door, where there are already sconces on either side of the door.  One of the two lights was not working, so I repurposed the one that did work and placed that along the front of the house where another preexisting light was not working either.  The lights on the arborvitaes also added some contrast to the house as these were planted 6 feet off of the house on the corners.  The large crape myrtle was well lit shining through the center, and provided reflective light on the borders of the yard, driveway, and sidewalk.  The japanese maple became a focal point in the middle of the yard, which really tied in the depth and character they were going for.

The Backyard: Creating an Elegant Border

In the backyard, we started on the right side of the yard with the arborvitae trees.  They knew they wanted to alternate putting lights on the trees, but did not know if they wanted them on every third or every other.  We started with every third then compared it to every other.  The contrast of direct light on the trees in front of the fixture and the residual light on the trees in between not only created a border at the edge of the property, but gave the trees depth even though they are in a straight line. 

Next we went to the back fence line with the holly bushes.  Taking advantage of the space behind the bushes we used a different up light called a wall wash.  This fixture has a soft, wide throw of light instead of a direct beam.  Aiming the light at the fence provides reflective light bounced off the fence and into the yard, while giving a subtle silhouette of the holly bushes.  We also compared putting up lights in front of the bushes, and using both styles.  We decided that just using the wall washes would be the ideal effect they wanted.  

The contrast of these two methods added character and simple beauty to the entire property line and enlisted ambient light around the property.  No longer did the property fade away into the darkness, but illuminated an elegant border of his entire property.

Final Installation with No Surprises

Within the week we had the lights installed, wires buried and the system tested.  Now they come home to a welcoming property in the front yard, and an enjoyable backyard that feels comfortable and well lit well beyond the light of their fire pit.

When scheduling an evening lighting demonstration it allows us to play with different lighting techniques, and you can see exactly what it will look like before committing to the entire project.  In the backyard they did not know whether they wanted lights on every other tree or every third tree.  We were able to test both options and compare and contrast them, live and in person.  In the front yard having the lights set in different areas of the property didn’t assume the depth and character it would add, it proved it.  If you are interested in personalized custom designed lighting for your home and property look no further than Southern Outdoor Lighting & Design.