Summer’s here! That means it’s time for backyard barbecues and other gatherings that allow people to spend more time enjoying their own little piece of the great outdoors. Even as the days get longer and it stays light later into the evening, many people still wish they could spend more time in their backyards, enjoying the cool night air and the opportunity to gather with friends and family. Unfortunately, this is hard to do once the sun goes down if your backyard isn’t well lit.

Having a well-lit backyard doesn’t have to mean feeling like you’re hanging out beneath a spotlight. In fact, professionally installed landscape lighting in Palm Desert, CA can go a long way toward setting a calm, relaxing mood, rather than detracting from it. Here’s a closer look at how landscape lighting can help—and how to make sure you approach the project effectively.

Considerations for landscape lighting

When planning a landscape lighting project, it can be helpful to take some very practical steps at the beginning. First, you should determine why you want landscape lighting in the first place. Are you looking to make your backyard more usable and atmospheric at night? Is there a particular feature of your yard, such as a pathway, seating area or fountain that you want to highlight? Are there areas you want better lit for safety purposes?

Once you’ve thought about what you want to achieve with landscape lighting, another useful step is to sketch your backyard. This can be used to determine where lighting might be placed in order to satisfy your vision. The drawing should include everything that you envision as being part of your finished backyard, including furniture, other installations, plant life, designated flowerbeds and more. How the electricians work with your yard depends on where things are located as well as on your reasons for wanting or needing landscape lighting. If certain items are stationary, that needs to be considered. Likewise, if you intend to move items around from time to time, that should also be taken into account. Regardless, using the sketch as a jumping-off point for ideas can be a helpful way of visualizing your plans.

Add barbecue lighting for good measure

While your landscape lighting will do a great job of providing atmosphere and go some way toward improving visibility in a darkened backyard, it won’t offer the level of light necessary to ensure your grilling can continue after dark in a safe and efficient manner. For that, you’ll likely need to invest in some barbecue-specific lighting. The good news is that barbecue area lighting doesn’t have to be terribly complicated—it just needs to provide good, high-voltage light from above while taking into account that you don’t want your own shadow interfering with your grilling. A professional can help with the installation and positioning of lights to make your nighttime grilling more fun and productive.

Hill Electric, Inc. has spent 20 years serving our customers with attractive, effective and cost-conscious lighting services and installations, including landscape lighting in Palm Desert, CA. For more information about how we can help make your backyard a place you can enjoy well past sundown, or to schedule an appointment, give us a call today.