Will installing outside tree lights harm my trees?
Not if you have it done by a professional who is trained in special techniques and who uses the right specification grade fixtures. Outside tree lights must be sized in scale to the tree in both fixture size and wattage.
What benefits do these lights add to landscaping?
Trees add a third dimension to your landscape that creates a sense of comfort, mystique, and spaciousness when illuminated with outdoor tree lights. Guests will enjoy being outside in such as space much more than they would if only the ground itself were lit with a single layer of light. By creating multiple layers of light, you bring the landscape up toward the stars and elevate both visibility and emotion in the process.
What types of outside tree lights do we need to create this layered lighting effect?
There are only two main categories of outside tree lights: up lights and down lights. Within these categories are a wide range of sizes and wattages intended to match the fixture to the tree and the area around the tree that needs to be lit.
Uplights are box flood lights installed at the base of the trunk. They shine their light up the side of the tree into the leaves above, illuminating it with a light that sweeps the eye upward.
Down lights have a practical application in that the shine light down on the ground that makes it easier for people to see. However, down lights are also used for decorative effect. Mercury vapor outside tree emit a bluish-green light that is remarkably similar to moonlight. When concealed in branches, mercury vapor outside tree lights emit an ambient aura from within the canopy that cascades down to the ground just like moonlight does when the sky is clear and the moon is full. This works exceptionally well if you have very large oak trees in your yard that are not only tall but also have a wide canopy formed by branches that fan outward.
We recommend that you do not attempt to select these fixtures yourself or attempt installation of outside tree lights on your own. A landscaping designer can do all the outdoor light planning for you and provide you with superior, specification grade fixtures as one of many components in an overall landscape lighting plan.
Can outside tree lights be used with very small trees?
Yes. One of the best ways to do this is to plant a flower bed around a small or moderately-sized tree and hide 100 watt box floods within the vegetation. This conceals the fixture and shines the light up the trunk onto the bottom of the trees branches and leaves. Many times, this can actually make a tree look taller than it really is, helping add a sense of depth and history to a home in a relatively new neighborhood. Many such affects can be created throughout a landscape and house plans if you are working with an expert such as the ones on staff at ILD.
Illuminations Lighting Design is the only “One Stop” destination for lighting design, engineering, landscape lighting services and installation in the state of Texas, and remains unrivaled by any lighting firm in the United States for lighting that is art. As homes grow larger and needs become more complex, having a single resource provides home owners with peace of mind. This translates into a smoother process, reduced costs and a better product. Contact us at 713-863-1133 or toll free outside Houston at 800-863-1184.
We are located in Houston Texas but provide lighting and house lighting plans in Austin TX, El Paso Texas, San Antonio TX, College Station Texas, Beaumont TX, Dallas Texas, Midland Tx and points beyond.
Labels: Mercury Vapor Tree Lighting Houston, Moonlighting, Outdoor Tree Lighting Experts, Outdoor Tree Lighting Plans
Every house in Texas has light, but few houses have lighting designs that add aesthetic preeminence to the physical dwelling itself. The universal nature and psychological power of light make it the most effective decorative element available to man when layered proportional to architecture, landscaping, and indigenous vegetation surrounding the residence. The complexity of truly impeccable house lighting requires a level of expertise and sophistication simply not available through retail channels or online superstores that push bargain products without any corresponding design or installation services. However, when installed correctly by a professional firm such as Illuminations Lighting and Design, fixtures remain hidden and glare disappears altogether. All that remains is a house enveloped by light as if magically illuminated from a powerful, unseen source.
The term house lighting differentiates from home lighting by referencing proprietary methods of architectural and landscape lighting that distinguish and compliment the physical structure of the house and the aesthetic elements of the surrounding property. Because our team cross trains and partners with a number of architectural and landscaping firms, we are able to synthesize outdoor lighting elements with architectural lighting themes so that every aspect of our design points at least a portion of the light back toward the house itself—making it appear the central, dominant feature of the landscape.
The architecture of a house distinguishes it as a unique residence of a distinctive individual style, design, and nature. Because of this fact, effective architectural house lighting constitutes an absolute design requirement upon whose quality the success of the entire project depends. To meet this challenge, we position special fixtures at key points on roofs and along walls so as to keep them hidden from viewers on the ground. We utilize advanced CAD software that enables us to customize beam spread and “wash” the entire surface of the house in light. We then accentuate gables, window shutters, balconies, and ornamental fixtures with additional uplighting or downlighting fixtures that add a second, more prominent layer of light in select places. Many custom home clients have remarked that from a distance their house now appears to be almost made out of light.
We then compliment the lighting of the house with additional layers of illumination positioned and distributed throughout the property. One of the many ways we do this is to turn darkness into a servant of light by creating moon shadow effects on the ground. Mercury vapor lights carefully concealed in trees cast pools of light downward onto the earth so as to combine soft light with shadow and to form moving patterns that enhance vegetation, water features, pathways, patios, porticos, and Southern-style porches. We can then add accent lighting to landscape and house lighting by giving extra emphasis to decorative elements that homeowners most desire to showcase, bringing out the rich color and texture of outdoor sculptures and structures and making the greenery, garden, and resident water features clearly visible at any hour of the night.
As every house and yard require a clear sense of boundary to set themselves apart from neighboring properties, tree canopy lighting envelops the entire perimeter of the property in an intimate circle of illumination that delineates the property line, highlights the wood and foliage of the trees, and balances the house light with outdoor lights that work toward completing the project with a unified theme. Up lights positioned on the ground shine illumination onto branches and leaves above with beam-spread proportional to tree growth, age, degree of foliage, and general form. This helps make the illuminated house appear in harmony with nature. Further harmony develops by lighting the larger trees (if present) that stand next the house itself and partly overshadow the roof. With a combination of up lighting and down lighting, trees immediately adjacent to homes can dual function as decorated compliments to building style and simultaneously house mercury vapor lights that scatter moon shadow movements along hedges and flowerbeds next to the walls.
Our award-winning professionals have worked for many years throughout Houston and greater Texas in all of our city’s most exclusive neighborhoods. Knowing that every home is a homeowner’s castle regardless of size, we have made it a point to develop custom solutions for every home—not just homes classified as custom. Call Illuminations today to see what we can do to make your home a world of light that enhance your lifestyle with satisfaction and sophistication.
Labels: Architectural Lighting Houston Texas, Houston Texas Contractors, Moonlighting, Outdoor Architectural Lighting
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Recently, I met with a couple who had just moved to Houston from Southern California. They had moved into a very nice neighborhood with a large home, on a large lot, that had extensive landscaping. They had found our name in the phone book and were entertaining bids from several companies for
LANDSCAPE LIGHTING. During the course of my conversation, she asked me a simple question. "What makes your company so special and how do you differ from other landscape lighting companies"? Here is what I told the clients that day ......
Illuminations Lighting Design is a 30 year old company with some of the best lighting designers, technicians and electrician's money can buy. Our client base includes some of the finest and most recognizable names in Texas and across the country. We are known as the guys who do it right!
We evolved into a full service lighting company that does not only landscape lighting but, residential and
commercial lighting projects,
home automation designs,
home theaters,
lighting control systems,
fine art lighting,
antique cabinet lighting and whole house
transient voltage protection. Not only can we design these systems, but install, service and maintain these and other lighting and electrical systems. Illuminations has a war chest of talent like no other company of its size. Specialists, each in their respective fields focus on certain aspects of the project so that no detail is overlooked. As a team, Illuminations Lighting Design can create a total solution.
When Illuminations Design is on a project, we take into consideration not only your exterior lighting, but how that intertwines with your interior lighting design, to provide a total lighting solution. Like music, lighting sets the mood. Not ever home has this harmony, and we are specialists at transforming any home into a lighting masterpiece.
Other landscape lighting companies generally focus on one aspect and cannot attend to any lighting need you may have. So whether you need a plug added in the house, a light for a new painting, surge protection to protect your whole house, a home theater or whole house sound system, you can count on Illuminations Lighting Design to handle those requests.
It was shortly after that meeting, that my proposal was accepted and the work was completed. Here is what the client told me after we were finished ......
I wanted to thank you for such a wonderful job planning and executing the lighting plan for our home and backyard. Our enjoyment of these spaces has been greatly enhanced by your expertise and recommendations. Additionally, I was very impressed by how punctual and in what a timely fashion the work was completed. It was a pleasure working with you and be assured that we will confidently recommend you and Illuminations to our friends. Thank you again.
Labels: Facade Lights, houston landscape lighting, Houston Outdoor Lighting Maintenance, low voltage lighting systems, Mercury Vapor Tree Lighting Houston, Moonlighting
