Lighting in any case can not be considered an extra element on the plot. Any decoration of the garden plot must end with the final stroke - the lighting device. It can only be decorative. In this there is nothing reprehensible. Light can be built into paths, lawns, waterfalls, rockeries and ponds. There are several different types of lighting used in landscape design: on duty, decorative, functional, architectural and artistic. The choice and independent creation of landscape lighting for your site is very interesting and creative.
General principles of lighting organization on the
site If you decide to create decorative lighting on your dacha, then before you start implementing the idea, think it over seriously and responsibly. After all, lighting should be not only beautiful, but also safe to use. If your pastime at the dacha is not limited to the bright time of the day, you need to take care not only of the decorative side of the question, but also about the functional one. In the evening and at night the territory should be illuminated fairly brightly and evenly. To achieve this, the lighting should be installed correctly.
For example, the lighting along the tracks should be such that even in the darkest night, it would be safe to walk on them. At the same time, one should not forget about uniformity of illumination of the whole territory. Nevertheless, droshky should set the direction of all creative thought. After all, they are not only a system of movement, but also axes, through which the division of the whole territory into sectors takes place. When lighting tracks, try to set a certain rhythm. This is helped by flashlights and lamps, which are installed at certain intervals along the tracks. They should fit into the overall style of the landscape design, and in no case do not break out of it.
Example of lighting paths in the garden.
The lighting system must have sufficient reliability and durability. Each element must be fully protected against weather and adverse natural phenomena. At the device of electric networks it is necessary to observe all safety rules. The illumination of the tracks must be from 1 to 6 lux according to the regulations. Such a wide range allows you to easily adjust the amount of light, which allows you to change the appearance of the site cardinally.
The control system for all bulbs can be manual or automatic. In the first case, the lights can be switched on and off together or separately, but manually. In the second case, electromechanical timers or LED switches can be used. They will ensure the automatic switching on and off of the entire system from the mains at the right time.
In any case, do not make the tracks too bright, they just need to be illuminated evenly. Too bright illumination will distract attention from other equally important objects of your infield. That's what they need to highlight brighter than anything else. This applies to sculptures, fountains, ponds or even just beautiful trees and shrubs. When you are in any part of your site, the light should not blind your eyes. For this, a large number of modern lamps with diffuse light are used.
Accents of lighting on important sites of the site.
Types of garden lights
There are a huge number of types of lamps and lanterns that are used to create lighting in the garden. Select the ones that best fit the entire design of your site. These can be instruments in classical or modern style, but they can all be classified into three main groups: wall, suspended, mounted on the ground in various ways. Let's consider some of them.
Retro lanterns and spherical luminaires
These are classic lighting fixtures with a sine curve of light. That is, they are not able to focus the illumination and blind the eyes. Their light spreads in all directions evenly. So that it is not wasted, the design of the enclosure assumes the direction of the flow of light only on the sides, but not down or up. They are not put on the tracks, since it will be dark below. But for the illumination of fences, sculptures or shrubs they will do the best. They shine an average of 20 m. It is not recommended to use them to highlight an important architectural element.
Ensemble of spherical light fixtures
For garden areas spherical variants of such lanterns are best suited, since they perfectly match with the natural landscape. Plafonds for them are made of matte polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate. Effectively on the site looks like a whole composition of such lights, only you need to remember that they have enough power, so the energy costs will be high. Spherical lamps do not blind the eyes, but they have too much brightness, which many designers note as a flaw.
Flashlights with reflected light and luminaires for the design of tracks
Indirect Indirect( nondirectional, diffuse) are lanterns that emit diffused light. They have a well thought out design with many advantages:
- Have an anti-glare device.
- Evenly scatter light on a large area.
- Metal halide lamps with excellent color rendition and long service life are used.
These flashlights are best suited for track lighting. Due to the cosine curve of the intensity of light, they illuminate the space strictly below them. This ensures no glare effect. Indices come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which allows them to draw any tracks. They can even be embedded in roadside vegetation to create a truly magical effect.
Lamps for tracks.
Fixtures installed on trees
When decorating a plot in a landscape style, any artificial objects are alien. Therefore, designers come up with different approaches for their disguise. One of the possibilities is to place the lighting device on a tree. For this, low-voltage halogen lamps are used. They can be fastened directly to the trunks of coniferous trees without fear. Screws will not harm the big pine, as the resin instantly surrounds the foreign body and will not allow the process of decay to develop.
Fixtures for tracks of the
type The name also has an English origin and means "light directed upwards."The degree of protection they have is not less than IP 67. They are built into the transparent elements of paving tracks. They should be small and not bright, because the light beating from under the feet can blind the eyes. Better than others for these purposes are suitable LEDs, because they do not heat up and have a sufficiently high brightness, coupled with economy. They can be built into fiberglass tiles.
The light emanating from the track excellently accentuates the direction and creates a movement effect.
Effects of garden lighting
This or that type of lighting is designed to create the desired effect from it. Consider the main types of lighting in the suburban area and their purpose.
Security lighting type
It is created along the perimeter of the whole site. Most often, the fixtures are installed on fence posts or self-supporting pillars. It is necessary for high-quality video surveillance and creating the effect of the presence of hosts on the site. Its switching on and off is best equipped with automatic control based on a photo relay. In this case, maintenance of this type of lighting will be reduced only to periodic replacement of lamps. As these lamps burn all night, energy efficiency must be taken care of. It is best to use LED or fluorescent lamps. Power wires should be laid inside the fence structure and provide a switch or switch to force the light off.
Example of the organization of security lighting.
Functional lighting
This is the main type of lighting, which pursues its main goal - providing the site with light. Most often this type of lighting is present along the tracks and near significant places on the site. You can arrange it in many different ways.
Decorative lighting types
Designed to provide play of shadows and light in the right areas of the site to focus on one or another object. Most often it is installed in recreation areas. So ka light is white and yellow, that is, warm and cold, the choice should be made depending on the preferences. For example, coniferous trees are usually lighted with cold light, and ponds, waterfalls and fountains are warm.
Decorative illumination of coniferous trees on the site.
Backlighting of architectural structures
It is not always used, but in vain. After all, organizing the illumination of architectural ensembles, buildings and structures speaks of a refined sense of beauty from the owner of the site. Usually two different methods are used to create it. In the first case, they try to achieve maximum illumination of the whole structure. In the second, only certain light accents are singled out. It is more complicated than the first, but it perfectly harmonizes with the buildings decorated with small architectural forms: towers, pilasters, columns.
At the entrance to the house or the entrance to the site, it is best to install lanterns of a standard type on supports with a height of 2 to 3 m. They should cover a large area before entering. Competently need to make the lighting on the stairs. The light should be such that the steps are perfectly visible, but they do not give shadows. It is best here to fit wall types of fixtures or weak lamps built into the steps themselves.
To illuminate tracks, as already noted, light must be selected so that it does not blind the eyes and is not too bright. Therefore, you can put the flashlights on small posts about 1 m high, which will accentuate the direction. If such lamps are equipped with visors, then the light can be directed to the right side. The veranda or attic on the plot should have lighting as good as in the house itself. For this purpose, the fixtures are fixed from above and provide illumination of the entire area of the structure.
For the creation of compositions from luminaires and plants, portable types of lighting devices are used. They can be installed anywhere in the garden during the flowering period of a particular shrub. Such devices most often have an autonomous power supply in the form of batteries, charged during the day from photocells. Smaller plants require lighting from above, and large trees are illuminated from below.
Specific effects of
Some very interesting effects can be achieved by different installation of lighting devices. For example, shading is created by installing a flashlight in the immediate vicinity of the object. The length of the drop shadow is controlled by the distance from the light source object. The effect of intersecting light is achieved by focusing on the object of light from two sources. Backlighting is used to decorate plants and doorways. The moonlight effect is the most beautiful technique when designing the lighting of a site. Steps, bridges or paths are decorated with the effect of step-by-step lighting. The illumination from above is created above the flowering plants, which ensures their unique and colorful appearance.
The fabulous effect of moonlight.
When creating lighting in the suburban area, it is worth remembering the need to save electricity. This is facilitated by the correct choice of lamps, the use of various automatic relays and motion sensors. The light of any lamp must reflect from something. Otherwise it will look like a lonely dull spot of light, nothing illuminating.
Creating a competent lighting system in the suburban area is quite a challenge. But, when creating it, you should always remember how your site will look in the rays of light in the dark, what composition will be created and what decorative effect it will have. Do not forget about safety when laying electrical cables. Use low-voltage equipment if possible. The wiring from powerful instruments must be securely isolated and hidden from the casual presence of children. Competently and safely arranged lighting on the site will fill with magical light the unique design of your creation.
