Landscape Up Lighting

Tips on up lighting



The first and most common landscape lighting technique is landscape up-lighting. This technique is where a lighting fixture is placed in or on the ground, below what you are wanting to light up. The two types of fixtures that you use for up-lighting is a spot or well light.

When using the landscape up lighting method you have 3 different ways to use your lighting fixture and each technique will produce a different look to the object you are lighting.

Front up-lighting

Here the fixture is placed in front of your object this is great to use on your home, walls, trees, tall shrubs and fences. This method will give you more intense light on your object and with no shadows.

Cross up-lighting

Creates a less intense light and will add shadows around what you are lighting. This technique is good for lighting the canopies of large trees, large rocks or boulders and large fountains.

To avoid a hot spot at the bottom of your object make sure you point the light fixture slightly titled back to illuminate your entire object.

Back up-lighting

This technique is mainly used on trees, it creates depth, produces very few shadows and will show a less intense light.

The number of fixtures you may need to up-light your object will vary depending on the size of the object.

For example if you are up-lighting a large mature tree you may use from 3 to 5 well or spot lights to achieve the desired lighting affect, because of the overall width of the canopy of the tree.

At the same time up-lighting a wall or a part of your house may only require one light.

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