Light Switch

Night masks landscapes, no matter their dramatic designs or drastic colors. The setting sun erases landscape efforts, leaving homeowners with a drab, dark view. Vibrant plantings wash out, deftly-designed hardscapes disappear, flowering shrubs fade and patios blur and blend into the black. “I always hear, ‘We did this great landscape, but we’re not home to enjoy it. We sit on our porch and realize that there’s nothing to look at,’” remarked Chris Reichard, designer, Moonscape Landscape Illumination, Downers Grove, Ill. “We bring their landscapes to life at night for them.”

Landscape contractors are gathering an earful of feedback similar to this lately, especially since more homeowners work long hours and have little time to enjoy their views during the daylight. Like Reichard, other contractors are tapping into an ample market of clients who want to bring a nighttime dimension to their landscapes.

“People work so much – they want to go outside at night,” Reichard recognized. “When you get home from work, everyone’s instinct is to unwind. They might walk their dogs, barbecue – they want to enjoy the outdoors without a large floodlight shining on them.” Landscape lighting offers new, subtle ways to brighten up sleepy landscapes.

NIGHT OWLS. No longer just a primo service for luxury lawns, more clients realize that lighting adds value to their properties and allows them to appreciate their outdoor investments. “More people are finding it a necessity as opposed to just something nice that only a few people have,” related Tony Cunado, quality control manager, Vista Professional Landscape Lighting, Simi Valley, Calif. “A lot more people are going in and adding more than just one fixture.”

Since people are spending more time at home, they are splurging on features like landscape lighting, added Curtis Hogan, president, Nite Time Décor, Lubbock, Texas. “People are building their nests,” he noticed. “Lighting comes into that. They can create their own resort-like feeling on their property. I’m seeing that over and over again.”

If the service is less luxury and more mainstream, who is buying into the brightening trend? After all, a lighting system can cost upwards of $2,000, noted Michael Southard, national sales manager, Kichler Landscape Lighting, Cleveland, Ohio. Working couples are one demographic group that have taken interest in the service, he said. “It is for the people who work all day and come home at night and they want to be able to enjoy their landscapes,” he explained.

Selling the service to existing landscape customers is another avenue some companies explore to increase their lighting businesses, Southard added. “[The contractor] is already installing the landscape, and [lighting] is a nice add-on,” he reasoned.

To give clients the “night vision,” some contractors set the scene by arranging lights where they might exist in the lighting design, giving the customer a show with a demo set, a battery pack and a flip of a switch. New computer imaging programs also provide homeowners with a visual aid and help contractors sell the service, Southard added.

It’s not just looks that tempt clients, however. Visibility enhances security, so some see the service as a safety add-on, pointed out Brian Culliton, landscape architect, Rocco Fiore, Libertyville, Ill. “[It provides] safety, in terms of not having your property become a black hole,” he compared. Landscape lighting offers an understated alternative to security floodlights or glaring front porch fixtures, Cunado added. “You may not need a porch light on if you have 5 to 10 watts of light on your pathway, and it may look nicer,” he remarked.

Since lighting lures in customers for reasons other than sheer aesthetic appeal, the market for this feature is substantial. A recent Lawn & Landscape online poll suggested that most companies that offer lighting services find it a growing part of their business. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said the profit center is increasing, while 32 percent said they expect the service to remain steady. Another 26 percent will consider adding the service this year.

“Most consumers don’t know what is available today, and in most neighborhoods you still find that most homes don’t have landscape lighting,” Southard noted. “There is still a huge opportunity for contractors.”

BRIGHT IDEAS. More than do-it-yourself deals, new lighting trends create dimension – expression and character – allowing clients to capture qualities daylight doesn’t catch. Different lighting types establish moods – incandescent lights cast a warm, welcoming glow on homes while mercury vapor lamps radiate blue-green rays, which freshen a landscape, Reichard described. “It keeps the landscape looking like it does during its best point in the spring,” he compared. “Everything looks live and lush and cool and green.” These lights also last five to seven years, a bonus considering that many times they are installed in high trees, which are difficult to access for bulb changes.

“We combine the mercury vapor lights with the incadescent to create a whole palate,” he explained. Besides the glowing options that can illuminate properties, several design concepts add drama to dowdy night landscapes. For contractors, it’s a matter of avoiding a common mistake Cunado noticed among lighting experts: a lack of confidence. “A lot of guys are afraid to try new things and new technologies,” he said. “Landscape lighting is a personal preference – it’s one part artistry. Once you get a feel for it, you can do some nice presentations. Some are afraid to get in there, get their hands dirty and give it a try.”

On the other hand, others aren’t so hesitant and end up turning the property into a virtual theme-park lighting bonanza – a bit of a sensory overload for most residential landscapes. This is probably contractors’ No. 1 mistake when installing lighting systems, Southard noticed. “A couple fixtures in a dark yard is a nice improvement, but 20 or 50 can be worse than having less,” he commented. Subtlety is the secret when planning lighting designs, Culliton agreed. “You don’t want the overall plan to take away from the neighborhood,” he said. “We’re not trying to create Disneyland – and you do see that. We don’t want everything lit. A little in one section, a little on the house – we look for a balance.”

Ornamental flowering trees, statues, pathways – these focal points are some of the highlights that homeowners complement with lighting. “Again, you’re looking for balance,” Culliton reminded. Southard listed some popular lighting techniques, including silhouetting, shadowing, path lighting and bed lighting, which are fairly common tactics. In addition, more contractors are experimenting with grazing, where fixtures are situated close to a wall or surface to play up its texture. This is an attractive effect from a distance, he pointed out. With moonlighting, lighting shoots down from trees and appears as if it peeks out from foliage.

“We are experimenting with different looks and designs,” Southard said. “Ten years ago there were only four or five different designs, and now we’ve moved into some different designs, such as fixtures that blend in with the landscape.” Lights resembling ivy, frogs and lighthouses comprise a growing list of light covers. Various materials like copper, brass, steel and aluminum, present a flaming pupu platter of fixture finishes.

FLICKER FIGURES. Of course, before contractors can begin to tinker with new technologies and install interesting lighting concepts, they must have a clear picture of the client’s vision for the property. Reichard learns preferences in an initial meeting, since each job inevitably has its quirks, he said. “No two designs are the same,” he noted. “I go on every single job and I don’t just give them a quote – we meet and discuss the project a little.”

Questions keep this process simple and concise so end-results match mental pictures. “What do you want to see? What do you use your yard for? Is the front yard more important than the back? Do you want it to be bright or not? Is security a concern? Do you have pathways through gardens that need to be lit? “The question-and-answer process leads me to which direction we will take on the project, and then we have to look at the landscape,” he continued. The company rolls this information into a plan, determining how it will juggle these needs into the lighting plan. Existing landscape also comes into play, Reichard added. “If they want to light up and down the driveway, do we have trees near the area to put in downlights to do that?” he suggested. “If not, we will have to come up with another design.”

In some cases, clients plan in advance for lighting during the initial landscape design process, which gives design/build companies a heads-up for conduit and wiring installation. Knowing beforehand that a property needs a few trenches to hide wiring prevents clean-up work on already-established properties, Culliton said. Though his company doesn’t offer an in-house lighting division, designers lay out and oversee lighting plans, Culliton explained. They are involved in the process, but subcontract the work to electrical professionals who can install the in-line lighting systems, which require expertise beyond basic knowledge that contractors who install low-voltage lighting need for smaller-scale installations (see sidebar on page 124). Planning for lighting add-ons cuts down on digging jobs down the road, he figured.

With lighting, careful work yields shining results. This is why Southard suggests dedicating one passionate employee to lighting, or designating a specialized crew to handle these jobs. “Then, they can concentrate on it and they can be the go-to person,” he figured. “If it is a larger firm, they generally have someone who does the lighting and they have a love for it. Then, they do a better job.” Regardless of their approach, more companies are exploring this add-on service, finding that its low start-up costs and high-profit potential produce a lucrative profit center. “It doesn’t take a huge capital investment,” Southard pointed out. “There are only basic tools that one would need to install low-voltage lighting. You could do it with a shovel and a tool box.”

And since landscape companies already have client contacts, selling lighting installations to existing customers can be a cinch, Hogan pointed out. “People like doing business with people they already do business with, so what better way to offer clients enhancements than to add on this turn-key service?” he said. “Landscape lighting is the finishing touch on a project.”

The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine.