Use of Landscape Lighting Growing Steadily

The nation's homeowners spent $25 billion on property improvements last year, a 38 percent increase over the $18.1 billion spent in pre-recession 1999, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

"It doesn't mean that we love our yards more," said Kermit Baker, director of the remodeling futures program for the center, based in Cambridge, Mass. "It's that we're investing in our homes more. There's just a lot of spending, particularly on the upper end of the market."

It represents a major change in attitudes toward the land surrounding homes, said Missy Reinholtz, president of Createscape Landscaping Service in Mukwonago, Wis.

DEMAND FOR LIGHTING SPECIALISTS. "When I was growing up, you had a row of hedges, a lawn and a token shade tree," she said. "Now, it's terraces, retaining walls, seat walls and fire pits, built-in barbecues, pergolas and gazebos. It's using plantings to add color and create privacy. It's using ponds and waterfalls to bring in the sounds of nature."

It's big business, growing fast.

"When I started business 20 years ago, I was the first in Wisconsin to specialize just in landscape lighting," said Pat Cullinane, a registered landscape architect who runs Night Gardens Landscape Lighting Co. in Hartland. "Now you look in the Yellow Pages, and you'll find quite a selection."

The Associated Landscape Contractors of America projects that consumers will spend $41.6 billion on lawn care, landscaping and tree care this year – compared with $28.9 billion spent in 2002.

The biggest area of growth is in the design and construction of hardscapes, a category that includes pools, gazebos, patios, decks and water features such as ponds.

"What people have done in the last few years is bring the inside out and the outside in," said Mark Brick, board chairman of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry in Des Plaines, Ill. He runs B&E General Contractors in Glendale, Ill.

These are discretionary projects, Harvard's Baker noted, but homeowners aren't pinching pennies.

"You can do it the simple way, not at all, or the elaborate way," he said. "In the last few years, people have been choosing to do it the elaborate way."

The trend is both enlivening and softening the nation's residential neighborhoods – one house at a time.

"You're seeing a lot more color in neighborhoods, more curvatures of line and tiered effects than the old horizontal lines," Brick said. "You're being brought to the house by the lines of the landscape and the illumination of accent lighting."

Prices start around $2,500 for a professionally landscaped foundation area and about $3,000 for night-lighting a front and backyard, contractors say.

But those are modest projects, and many people spend much more, they say.

"For a new home, figure about 5 percent to 10 percent of house price – a little more on the bigger ones," said Dave Fatla, design- build division manager of MJS Landscaping Services in Sussex. "But creativity goes hand in hand with budget. The more you spend, the more creative you can be."

New-home buyers typically spend $25,000 to $40,000 on landscaping, according to Reinholtz.

"That's grading, supply and installation of topsoil, the turf, front walk and patio or deck, trees, shrubs, perennials, amending the soil for the planting beds and installing mulch," she said. "You add extras like fire pits and water features and you're probably pushing $50,000."

Owners of existing homes typically spend less because they're not doing a complete makeover, contractors say.

Modest but happy returns

The financial return is modest by resale measures – typically about 15 percent, according to Associated Landscape Contractors.

For their customers, however, personal satisfaction apparently trumps resale value.

Tom Oelmann of Waukesha called the $5,000 he and his wife, Marty, spent for night-lighting on their three-quarter-acre property "a wonderful value."

"That's $5,000 over, what, 20 years?" he said. "With your yard, it's not only you, but your neighbors who enjoy it."

That pleasure is keener this time of year.

"We can still enjoy our views, even as the days get shorter," Oelmann said.

Homeowners' new attention to yards started in the 1990s during the longest economic expansion in the nation's history, Harvard research suggests. But it intensified, construction industry representatives say, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

"After that, people were really starting to focus more on their homes, inside and out," said Bret Achtenhagen of Bret Achtenhagen's Seasonal Services in Mukwonago. "The next spring, we noticed a humongous increase in people wanting to do projects – and what they wanted to do was more elaborate."

The Oelmanns' quest for a more beautiful yard started a few years ago when they established a tree stand of birch and Colorado spruce out back.

"We started out with a spotlight on the house for the holidays," Oelmann said. "Then it was a do-it-myself thing with floodlights. Then one day, I realized it looked like a Parade of Homes house. We wanted something more subtle."

They started driving around neighborhoods, checking other people's yards. When they found a house they liked, they hired Night Gardens, the company whose work sign was staked outside. Cullinane's crew did the work this year – uplighting trees and house peaks and downlighting the backyard deck.

The resulting electricity bill was a pleasant surprise, he said.

"There's about 23 places where we have lights," Oelmann said. "But together they use about 600 watts – less than my homemade floodlight system did."

COSTS AND RETURNS.

• Americans homeowners spent $25 billion on improvements to property in 2003, up from $24.2 billion in 2001 and $18.1 billion in 1999.
• Consumer spending on lawn care, landscaping and tree care services is expected to hit $41.6 billion this year, up from $37.9 billion last year and $28.9 billion in 2002.
• The biggest spending growth last year was in the design/ build of hardscapes – pools, gazebos, patios, decks and water features.
• Attractive landscaping can increase a home's value about 15 percent.
• Exterior lighting and a lot with trees are considered "must haves" by buyers of new homes priced $250,000 and up.

Sources: Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, Associated Landscape Contractors of America and National Association of Home Builders