Shine Bright: Seven Ideas to Help You Accent Your Trees with Outdoor Lighting

Shine Bright: Seven Ideas to Help You Accent Your Trees with Outdoor Lighting

Do you want to make your garden more stunning? Do you want to add accent lighting to the trees in your front yard? A survey found that 78% of American adults have homes with a lawn or landscaping.

While it functions as a pastime for most, it takes work to make the perfect landscaping work for both day and night. One major factor of good landscaping is getting the right outdoor lights for trees.

To make the landscaping interesting at night you’ll need creativity. In this guide, we’ll show you seven tips on getting creative accents for your trees by using lights. 

 

Up Light Your Coniferous Trees 

Coniferous trees make great additions to the yard since they create visual interest. As an example, the traditional Christmas tree is exciting to decorate because its broad body and tapered top draw the eye down in the most natural way.

You can bring that same interest and excitement to the coniferous tree in your front yard. Light it from the ground up to illuminate the whole tree. Its unique shape creates shadows and depth that other trees cannot.

One way to give it contrast from the other trees is to get a cool blue light. Using a bluish LED creates natural and subtle enhancements. When you add the lights, make sure you follow these maintenance tips for exterior lighting.

Bring out the Bark’s Texture

The bark of your tree is as important as its canopy. Keep it lit along with the canopy of your trees to avoid creating a UFO effect.

Highlight the bark’s color and shape to add visual interest to the trees in your yard. Trees with twisting and splitting trunks have a heavy contribution to the mood of your yard or garden. You’d often keep these features visible with up-lighting.

For example, the Silver Birch will look attractive when lit up no matter the season. White-barked trees can give your garden an urban look when lit up a certain way. The key to up-lighting is to keep your lights close to the root of your tree.

Use String Lights for a Softer Glow

String lights are a great way to add a bit of magical or romantic tone to any setting. Because of this, they are often referred to as fairy lights. They’re great for parties or for creating a cozy outdoor space.

Have you got a hammock in the backyard? Light up your new favorite spot with string lights connecting the trees you tied the hammock to. Keep the lights hanging low enough to reach you but high enough so your head doesn’t hit them.

If you’re planning a romantic backyard date, wrap the lights around the tree trunks. It might be a little cliché but it’s still quite enchanting. Putting string lights around a cluster of trees makes for a rather picture-perfect scene.

If you’ve prepared a dining table under a tree, light the area with string lights around the branches over it. Double the glow by pairing them with hanging jars of light.

If you want to avoid making the garden too Christmas-y, use neutral or warm colors. Avoid colorful LED string lights. If you must use other colors, keep them in one hue.

Light up the Pots

If you have smaller, younger, and potted trees, give them their own LED pots. The contrast between the dark tree and lit-up pot goes best with gardens aiming for a magical theme.

These pots are some of the more mobile outdoor lights for trees. Most brands sell them in changeable colors. Choose from any color on the RGB scale, depending on the occasion or your mood.

They’re great as guides for paths. Since they’re waterproof, they work well as lights on the far side of a pool, too. If you’ve got a wooden fence, place these pots against them to create ambient background lighting.

Illuminate Your Paths with Down-Lights

If you have a big fancy garden, you likely have a path that winds around it. Give the path a combination of light and natural shadows with down-lights. This technique also works with patios, walkways, and driveways.

This is one of the best ways to accent mature trees. Pair it up with up-lit smaller trees in the background. This style creates an ambient light that’s great for spacious yards and driveways.

Indirectly lit paths are also great deterrents for burglars. Since they know, they can get spotted before they even come near your house, burglars will avoid targeting your home. This is useful for those who live in states with high rates of burglary like New Mexico.

Create Focal Points on Your Garden

Trees in the middle of the yard or garden can tie the whole landscaping together. If you decide to make the oak tree your garden’s centerpiece, you need to use the right lighting.

Before you proceed you to decide whether it needs one-sided lighting or multi-sided lighting. Do you want to create a dramatic effect or a soft glow? Knowing how to optimize your lighting can create an arresting sight.

One way to make it a focal point is to use two or more spotlights to create a crossbeam of light directed at the tree. Put the spotlights further away from the tree than the typical up-lighting distance. When you aim the spotlights at the tree, be sure the beams don’t hit you or your neighbors’ windows.

Set up Party Lights for the Patio

If you plan to host a small evening party, it would be wise to consider some extra illumination. Good weather and the full moon won’t always be around to light up your events. Keep the party area lit with some tree-mounted down-lights.

Using warm colors will set a nice, cozy mood. It’s also a great way to provide light for your grill, as well. To give it more charm, pair it up with lively string lights around tree trunks.

A set of lunar 20-watt halogen lights is bright enough to create light akin to a dim afternoon. If you want to create a moonlit patio, get down-lights in cool colors. You can use these lights as safety measures for guests who aren’t familiar with your yard.

Enjoy Outdoor Lights for Trees Today

Brighten up your yard with our guide for outdoor lights for trees. Now you can host a garden or patio party without worrying about it getting dim.

Smart money handling is a big factor in getting the best lighting for your budget. Since they’ll be near plants, make sure you get quality light fixtures that don’t overheat. Good landscaping boosts the value of your property for future resale.

Check out our blog for more helpful content on lighting. We give free consultations for landscape and interior lighting. If you have any questions, feel free to call us!

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