If fall is your favourite, you are not alone! It’s a wonderful time to enjoy your outdoor space as the colours become vibrant and the temperature takes a turn towards sweater weather. If you want to continue to enjoy your yard, your hot tub and your bbq through fall, you absolutely can! And, if you are excited to enjoy your outdoor winter décor, here are some landscaping lighting ideas that will keep you safely lit straight through the winter.
Don’t Miss a Thing
The good news, during the peak foliage you don’t need to make any adjustments to your lights. It is, however, an excellent time to rake out your light fixtures. Making sure they are free from leaves and debris is a great way to keep your lights looking new and your family safe from fire hazards.
Perform Wire Checks
In case any lighting wires became unearthed over the summer, now is the time to make sure they are back in place before the ground is too hard. Wires must be buried a minimum of 6 inches deep to stay up to code and ensure overall safety. Exposed wire is not just a tripping hazard, but wild animals or even your family pets can chew on it. Aside from potentially harming people and animals, this could also short out your whole system.
Tone it Down a Touch
Once the leaves have made their descent, your lighting needs to be adjusted accordingly otherwise the light on the newly bare branches can look harsh and severe. While that may be what you’re looking for to display your Halloween decorations, once they come down, so should your light.
To adjust the brightness of your lights you can add frosted bulbs to soften the light, or just remove some of your fixtures or bulbs to lessen the amount of light overall. In some cases, you can also adjust your uplighting. Lowering the angle of light so it shines on the trunk of the tree as opposed to drawing attention to the stark branches can is another option.
Make a Guided Path
Avoid slips and stumbles that can happen on wet leaves and snowy sidewalks by lighting the way with a guided path. A simple enhancement that looks lovely and serves as a safety feature.
Time to Upgrade
Cast bronze fixtures are a stunning choice that look even better with time and are ultra-durable to get you through even the toughest of Ontario winters. A strong metal impervious to corrosion once installed outdoors, the metallic bronze darkens to an old-penny brown, and then to a greenish blue patina that complements the natural beauty of your gardens.
Since the aging process takes several months and is expedited by elements like rain, and snow the benefit of installing them in the fall is that by the next summer they will have aged to peak colour.
Let Lane’s Landscaping Help you With Your Fall/Winter Outdoor Lighting
Looking for products or need more advice on ways to get your lighting landscape ready for fall and winter? Contact us at Lane’s Landscaping to get started!
References: https://cast-lighting.com/blog/post/9-landscape-lighting-tips-for-fall-and-winter-prep
