Holiday Landscape Lighting

Illuminated home garden path patio lights and plants in evening dusk

I was out running some errands the other day (mid- to late October) and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Christmas decorations starting to be put out on shelves and racks!  Halloween hasn’t even come and gone, and several big-box retailers are already revving up for the holiday season.  Most people love decorating the inside of their homes for the holiday season, although there aren’t nearly as many that decorate the outside.  Whether you’re getting ready to entertain family and friends and want your outdoors to be safe, or you want to add a bit of holiday color or maybe a temporary solution for either, there are options for you.

Home owners like to add landscape lighting during this time of year for different reasons.  It gets dark very early this time of year resulting in guests arriving at your home when it is dark – don’t forget daylight savings time is right around the corner (Sunday, November 2^nd).  This can hide many safety hazards such as steps, drop offs, unlevel stones on pathways, vegetation, outdoor ornaments, etc.  There are many different lighting options available to illuminate these hazards to prevent unnecessary injuries.

On the flip side of that coin is mood lighting for the holiday season.  Many people like to entertain outside but have poor lighting in areas such as barbeque grills, outdoor kitchen area, gazebos, patios, etc.  When using low voltage landscape lighting, it is possible to illuminate only the areas that you want visible without having too much light from a typical patio light.  There are also colored lenses available if you have existing landscape lighting and simply want to add holiday color to your landscape.

In addition, many people like to display decorations during the holiday season.  There are simpler and temporary ways such as outdoor flood lights with ground stakes that can simply be placed in front of the desired areas.  With the low energy options such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescents, it is possible to add many lights without causing and overload situation.