In order for a beautifully furnished summer cottage to maintain its decorative appearance in the dark, it is necessary to think through its lighting system. To illuminate the territory, various types of lamps are used, and when placing them, you need to adhere to some recommendations. A description of the main features, types and types of landscape lighting, the main rules for its arrangement on a private garden plot, as well as a step-by-step algorithm for performing the work, is further described in the article.

Features of lighting in landscape design

Lighting the garden and yard has a number of features that must be considered when designing.

Important! That light streams provided good visibility, they should intersect with each other. The higher the lights, the greater the distance between them and vice versa.

Therefore, light sources for open air are installed taking into account some rules, and the choice of a lamp is carried out according to the following criteria:

1. Level of protection against dust and moisture. It is indicated by the IP marking and must be at least 44. In the open air, lamps are exposed to rain, snow and hail, as well as dust can get on them. The first digit of this indicator indicates the degree of protection against solid objects, and the second - from water drops.
2. Power. Usually, moderately bright or dim light is sufficient to illuminate a site.
3. Height. Depends on what purpose the lamp will be used. As a decor of the compositions, you can install small light sources, and for full coverage of the territory you will need high lights.
4. Support Material. Under the influence of low temperatures, the soil freezes and the base of the lamp can sag or mow. Therefore, light sources mounted on a concrete base are best suited for the street. At the same time, their case can be made of stainless steel, cast iron, stone and even wood. But in the latter case, the lamp will require more thorough care.
5. Cable depth. Must be at least 80–90 cm. You can use only wires coated with high-quality insulation that protects against moisture.
6. Shade or diffuser material. Usually used heat-resistant glass, polycarbonate, which do not crack when the temperature difference. In a working lamp, the ceiling can heat up, while the ambient temperature in the dark is much lower (especially in autumn and winter).

Types of Landscape Lighting

Night illumination not only allows you to give the territory and the objects located on it a beautiful view in the dark, but also is an integral element of security. Thanks to lamps and lanterns, you can freely move around the site in the dark. A moderately bright illumination of structures, reservoirs and compositions of plants creates a special atmosphere, giving night landscapes a special charm.

Decorative lighting

To equip a garden plot in a certain style, various decorative elements, objects, compositions from plants and flowers are used. All of them are clearly visible during the day, but with the onset of darkness they become indistinguishable, and the territory completely loses its unique appearance. To avoid this, decorative illumination of the site is used. It allows you to make all landscape design objects visible, and can also give them an unusual look in the twilight.

Decorative lighting of the territory includes the installation of light sources in such places:

• flower beds and flower beds;
• reservoirs, fountains;
• groups of trees and shrubs;
• statues, decorative objects;
• arbors;
• hedges, building facades.

For decorative purposes, lamps and spotlights of various sizes and shapes are used, emitting multi-colored light rays. They are placed on vertical supports, built into the ground or attached directly to objects and existing vertical surfaces.

Functional lighting

This type of street lighting is also called utilitarian, and its main goal is to ensure comfortable movement throughout the territory in the evening and at night. At the same time, light sources are installed near the entrance to the country house and garage, along paths and platforms. Such lamps provide good visibility, and also serve to visually mark the site at night.

Did you know? In ancient Greece, the art of arranging gardens and parks was already known in the 9th century. BC e. At the same time, together with plants in the design of the territory, sculptures, decorative vases and columns were first used.

The main features of functional lighting:

• It is recommended to use simple and durable lamps that can work on the street at any time of the year;
• a balance must be maintained between the brightness of the illumination of the tracks and the intensity of the illumination of other objects;
• the facade and perimeter of a residential building should be the most illuminated place on the territory;
• light sources are positioned so that the boundaries of the plot are clearly visible in the dark;
• it is allowed to use energy-saving, fluorescent and conventional lamps inserted in high luminaires, as well as lighting devices powered by solar panels.

Varieties of lighting

Depending on what type of objects the site should have at night, several types of lighting are used. In each case, the light source are lamps of different capacities and sizes, installed according to certain rules. The main elements of the garden are trees and plants, ponds, as well as houses and other buildings. To illuminate each of the listed objects, a certain type of backlight is used.

Architectural lighting

The main and largest element of the garden is a residential building with a certain architecture. To emphasize the beauty of this building in the dark, architectural lighting is used, which allows you to focus on individual fragments of the building or its forms. At the same time, the size of the house, the color scheme of its facade, the texture of the walls and the appearance of the roof are taken into account.

Main features of architectural lighting:

• the use of lamps having an elegant appearance;
• installation of light sources along the perimeter of the structure, as well as on the roof visor or on the walls;
• the ability to use combinations of several fixtures with an unequal degree of power and a different color spectrum to create dynamic lighting or pictures from light fluxes.

Flora Lighting

An important constituent element of any garden plot is green space and flower arrangements, so it is necessary to ensure their illumination in the dark. For this purpose, luminaires emitting a directed luminous flux are used.

Did you know? For the first time grottoes, fountains and pools began to be used in landscape design on the territory of Ancient Rome (65–8 AD). Mention of these objects is found in the works of Horace.

The sizes and shape of the light sources, as well as the degree of their power, are selected depending on such factors:

• plant height and volume;
• texture of the trunk and crown;
• color and shape of leaves;
• the degree of plant modification depending on the season.

Floodlight

Such lighting is a kind of architectural lighting, and its main goal is to provide good visibility of the building in the dark. To do this, rather powerful lamps and searchlights are installed around the building, the rays from which completely flood the house with light. This allows the observer to consider all the details of the appearance of the building, and the light sources themselves are located on the surface of the earth or on high vertical supports.

The floodlight is very bright, therefore it is mainly used for lighting non-residential and massive buildings, near which people are in the dark.

Local backlight

This type of lighting allows you to focus on the most expressive sections of the facade of the house - balconies, friezes, balustrades. Local illumination allows the observer to evaluate the features of the structure and appearance of the building. For it, floodlights are usually used, which are installed directly on the facade. They emit a directed light beam, and in combination with each other provide versatile lighting for a selected section of the wall or a specific object.

Hidden backlight

It is used to effectively illuminate the walls of the building and has become a popular technique in the landscape design of the site relatively recently. The main function of hidden lighting is to create an original light pattern on the facade of the building. In this case, light sources of small power are used, giving a directional beam. They are installed around the house, adjusting the direction of light fluxes to create spectacular decorative compositions.

Pond lights

A well-kept pond, stream or fountain is an excellent decoration of any territory, but it is difficult to consider it in the dark, so it is necessary to organize the correct lighting of the site with water. To do this, use a special type of fixtures, which can be located around the perimeter of the pond, at its bottom or located on the surface of the water.

Important! When arranging the illumination of a reservoir, it is not recommended to position the lamps so that their rays go on the surface of the water. In this case, the light will simply reflect, without giving the pond any decorative qualities in the dark.

The main recommendations for choosing light sources for a reservoir:

• You can use lamps with any color of the light flux;
• all elements for lighting the pond should be powered by a low voltage network of 12 V - this will avoid a fatal electric shock to humans;
• only luminaires with an IP moisture protection index of at least 68 are allowed to be lowered into water;
• It is best to use LED light sources - they do not heat up and are resistant to changes in ambient temperature.

Lighting without luminaires

Decorative lighting in the garden can be arranged even without spotlights, lamps and lights. To do this, use low-voltage LEDs that emit dim light and can give an attractive appearance to any object or composition.

LED light sources are placed on the ground surface, in the crowns of trees and shrubs, on the facades of buildings, inside flower beds and decorative compositions from plants, as well as on specially installed supports. Such lamps are durable, have different shapes and sizes, and also differ from each other in the color range of the light flux.

Types of garden lights

There are several types of lamps intended for use in the garden in the country. They differ from each other not only in external characteristics, but also in the area of ​​destination. Some can serve solely to illuminate the territory, while others are used to effectively illuminate objects, flower beds and compositions from plants. Often, lamps become an independent decorative element that decorates the site in the dark.

Downlights

Such light sources are mounted in the ground or floor, and can also be located on special platforms, as an element of a decorative composition. Recessed lights are used for marking the territory and lighting design of various details of landscape design.

The main features of such light sources:

• They are small and mostly flat;
• emit light flux of low intensity;
• allow you to adjust the direction of light depending on the location (vertical or horizontal);
• mainly contain LEDs that provide poor illumination of the territory;
• can be a source of multi-colored lighting, emitting light rays of various shades.

Columns and bollards

If it is necessary to organize decorative lighting of garden paths, lawns and flower beds, it is recommended to use bollards and lamps in the form of columns. They are a source of soft, dim light and are often installed in small areas to illuminate a small space around.

Did you know? In China, the art of landscape design appeared more than 3,000 years ago. Moreover, the location of objects on the site was carried out taking into account the philosophy of Feng Shui and the provisions of the religion of Taoism.

The main distinguishing qualities of the posts and bollards:

• small and compact sizes - the height of such lamps is from 50 to 150 cm;
• a variety of forms and styles - bollards have a minimalist appearance, and the columns often depict any objects (bells, mushrooms);
• light output of small power - it allows you to only slightly illuminate the territory, therefore it often serves for visual marking of space;
• different colors of the light beam - allow you to effectively illuminate the space, depending on the objects and compositions located on it.

Lanterns and high poles

This type of luminaire is used primarily for functional outdoor lighting of the territory - sports fields, paths in the garden, parking lots, areas around the house and other buildings. High lights are usually installed in areas with a large area, but sometimes they are also used to decorate a small garden.

Depending on the characteristics of the distribution of luminous flux, high lights are divided into two groups:

• luminaires that uniformly scatter light in all directions - designed to illuminate the territory of a large area, because they spread the beam over a significant area and provide good visibility;
• Indices - create a directed and sufficiently bright stream of light without blinding the observer's eye, therefore they are used to illuminate small areas and paths in the garden.

Floodlights for plant lighting and landscape solutions

Such light sources are used for decorative purposes and are easy to install on the ground. They can create a luminous flux of various colors and directions, provide spectacular illumination of flower beds and compositions from plants. The size of the spotlight is chosen at your discretion, and in addition to standard lighting, you can create interesting light compositions using special filters and animation technology.

Did you know? In the XVII – XIX centuries, landscape designers in Russia were called the organizers of gardens and parks. They took their ideas for arranging the site from the paintings of painters.

There are several ways to illuminate plants using such projectors:

• bottom lighting of a tree trunk or crown - the lamp is installed on the lawn, and its luminous flux is directed upwards;
• overhead lighting - used to illuminate shrubs and flower beds, and the light source is located high on the top of a nearby tree or other object;
• silhouette lights - a spotlight is placed in the background of the composition, directing a ray of light so that the observer sees only its outline in a light frame;
• Illumination of the interior of a flower bed, shrub or tree - the lamp is installed in the center of the selected composition or object, scattering light around itself;
• spot lighting - It is used to illuminate separate trees and shrubs, and the light source is usually located below or to the side of the object.

Rules and standards for lighting design

To ensure uniform and beautiful lighting of the garden area, it is necessary to carefully consider the location of all light sources in relation to each other.

Important! Do not place lamps near the flower beds and shrubs that heat up during operation - this can lead to damage to plant leaves.

When placing fixtures on the site, take into account such features:

• low light sources in winter can be under snowdrifts, so you need to think in advance how they will be cleared of snow;
• light from the street should not penetrate into the rooms of a residential building;
• it is better to avoid an excessive amount of light sources - they will clutter up the territory, creating too bright lighting;
• luminaires emitting directional rays are installed along the paths, and ceiling lights are used to illuminate the surrounding space;
• in order to reduce the cost of electricity for street lamps use energy-saving lamps;
• for decorative illumination of fast-growing plants, it is best to install a light source at the peak - it can be easily embedded in the soil and moved as needed;
• along the perimeter of the plot it is best to install not too bright lamps - in this case, the main attention will be attracted to the illumination of objects in the garden;
• to illuminate sandy paths, gazebos and ceramic objects, it is recommended to use warm shades of the light flux, and flower beds and fresh greens look brighter in the rays of cold white;
• it is convenient to turn on different types of backlighting individually, depending on the need.

DIY landscaping steps

To properly arrange landscape lighting of the territory, you can turn to the services of specialists or perform all the work yourself.

Important! The cable trench should be at least 1.5 m from the foundation of the building. At the same time, for safety reasons, at least 1 m must be retreated from other communications.

In the second case, they first draw up a step-by-step plan of action, which includes the following steps:

1. Drawing up a plot of the site, which marked the location of all objects, paths, buildings, trees, compositions of plants.
2. Determination of the location of lighting devices in the territory, indicating the type of lighting, the type of lamps and the color of the light flux emitted by them.
3. Drawing up a layout of cables connecting the fixtures with sources of electricity.
4. Formation of a list of necessary materials and light sources, calculation of their cost. Purchasing all items from a list.
5. Marking lines for laying cables. Marking places for the installation of lighting devices.
6. Preparation of trenches with a depth of about 70 cm. Laying the cable in them according to the scheme - when digging in the recess, it is first half filled with sand, then the signal tape is laid and the trench is filled with earth to the very top.
7. Installation of concrete formwork for the installation of light sources.
8. Installation of moisture-proof canopies in places of outlet of sockets and switches located in the open air.
9. Installation and connection of lamps to the mains with the mandatory installation of automatic protective shutdown.
10. Checking the performance of the site lighting system.

Arranging a landscape lighting system requires care, patience and some effort. Using the information presented in the article, you can correctly select and arrange lamps for functional and decorative illumination of the territory, adhering to established standards and norms. And compliance with the indicated sequence of actions will allow you to successfully complete all stages of work, obtaining the desired result.