You’ve spent all year creating a yard that appeals to the eye. Now that winter is approaching it’s getting dark earlier and earlier. There are fewer hours of the day when people can see the work that you put into the yard. The solution is to add outdoor lighting that highlights the plants and decor of your lawn.

Five ways to do this are:

1. Spotlighting. Install outdoor light fixtures so that they are positioned to highlight the plants or decor objects that you want noticed.
2. Uplighting. Put in ground lights which shine up to the top of a tree or vine that you want people to see.
3. Downlighting. Install multiple lights in the branches of a tall tree in your yard. Shine them down into the yard. This creates an effect that looks a lot like the light from a full moon.
4. Grazing. This effect is similar to downlighting in that the lights are broken up by walls or plants to create shadows and softness as you’d get with the light from a full moon. In this case the lights are low and are pointed upwards against a plant or wall.
5. Path lighting. You don’t want people to trip and fall in your yard. Illuminate the walkway with gentle lighting.

Two brands to check out for good outdoor lighting are Elk Lighting and Kalco Lighting.

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