Shed some light

Illumination makes landscape appealing, day or night

By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer

Without lighting, even the most elaborate residential landscaping meets the same fate when the sun slides below the horizon: It virtually disappears.

But add a little illumination, and homeowners and passersby can enjoy beautiful yards even after darkness falls.

Landscape lighting “really makes your house pop, really makes it a lot neater,” said Eric Jamison, sales manager for Wilkop Landscape in Troy.

“(People) invest in landscape nowadays,” said Mike Sloan, landscape designer for PC Landscape Services in Macomb Township. “You can get your money’s worth out of the landscape, even at nighttime.”

Besides aesthetic value, landscape lighting provides functionality by offering increased security, added Jamison and Sloan.

In the past, many people opted to simply line their pathways with a series of lights, a trend Sloan dubbed “runway lights.”

But now, designers recommend strategically illuminating appealing architectural elements on a home, like pillars, or interesting landscape features, he said. Even if a fixture is aimed at a house, the light will “splash off the brick” and onto nearby walkways, he added.

Jamison agreed that lighting the house is the best strategy, with particular emphasis on highlighting the corners and peaks of the structure.

“That’s your biggest investment — your house — so you want to show it off,” he said.

A good lighting plan avoids creating a large number of dark shadows or pockets and makes any potential hazards, such as stairs, visible to visitors, said Jamison.

Sloan said the number of lights needed for a yard varies depending on the aesthetics of the house itself and the characteristics of the surrounding landscape.

The lighter the brick, the more reflective it will be, he said, and as dense evergreens absorb more light than deciduous foliage, they need more fixtures aimed toward them to provide proper illumination.

Jamison said the scale of the home plays a major part in how many lights are needed. An average home typically benefits from about 15 in the front yard, arranged around the pathway and aimed at interesting focal points, he said.

He estimates that the average job ranges $2,000 to $3,500, and Sloan said few professional lighting companies’ services come in under $1,200.

Jamison and Sloan said homeowners who already have unlit landscaping need not fear disruption to their existing foliage if they opt to add lighting. Though it’s a bit simpler to install the systems as plants go in, they said, it’s not much more difficult to do so after the fact.

“Typically, once the lights are in, you won’t be able to tell we were there,” said Jamison. “You can really do it at any time.”

In terms of the lights themselves, “right now, copper fixtures are kind of the hot item,” he said. “As time goes on, they get kind of a classic look to them.”

But both Jamison and Sloan emphasized that, counterintuitive as it sounds, the light fixtures are not the most important aspect.

“In our designs, we try to make it so you don’t see the fixtures at all,” said Jamison. “You want to see the effect, but not the lights themselves.”

Sloan agreed, noting that PC Landscape typically places its lights at grade level, so they’re virtually invisible during the day.

“The fixture is not really what you’re buying,” he said. “What you’re buying is the effect of the light.”

While most people focus on their front yards, some customers decide to commission a lighting plan for their backyards too, especially if they have patios or use that area frequently, said Jamison and Sloan.

According to Jamison, lighting systems have become more sophisticated over time and now require less upkeep than before. Modern bulbs now last longer, and today’s photocells and timers allow homeowners to be hands-off when it comes to the lights activating at night, he said.

“There’s been a lot of advances in the technology and how things are wired,” he said. “The systems are all less maintenance now than they may have previously been.”

You can reach Staff Writer Cortney Casey at ccasey@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1046.