Pool landscape lighting is slightly different than the outdoor lighting for the rest of your property. Rather than lighting up areas that you walk through, such as along garden paths, it must cast light on an area that people will be staying in for a period of time. And, of course, you want the lighting to create a nice ambiance!
With unique lighting concepts around your pool in the evening, you can turn your pool into a nighttime oasis as well. Pool lighting creates a dramatic mood around your outdoor living space.
For a long time, incandescent in-pool lighting was really the only option. But lighting technology has undergone a revolution in recent years. Now there are cool LED light options that can give your in-pool lighting an added flair.
Creating a Mood
In-pool lighting can have a dramatic effect for those in the water. It can also help make the area around your pool safer. Strategically placing them around walkways, pool decks and other landscaping elements can help light a path for people. It can also help keep light-attracted bugs away from the water.
Regular white light is fine, but changeable colors create a mood. With some of the newer computer-controlled systems, you can even change that mood from party to party.
With the proper lighting scheme, you can create an outdoor living space you want to spend time in day or night.
Swimming Pool Lighting Ideas
You will still need lighting along walkways as you go to the pool area. Path lights along a walkway would be the most typical to use.
Path lights are also often used directly around the pool. They should be placed in planting beds as they are easily hit by mowers if set right in the grass.
Setting The Mood with Outdoor Moonlighting
Around the pool, you should have both functional lighting and mood lighting. At night, most people spend little time swimming; they’re more likely to be cooking and socializing.
Avoid anything that looks like a harsh spotlight across the pool – instead, use combination lighting effects to illuminate elements around the pool.
Like the illumination from the sun and the moon, the most natural form of lighting comes from above. If a tree canopy hangs over the pool deck, moonlighting can create a mystical effect. You can put moon lights in tall trees or off the side of the house.
Lighting Placement
Placing the landscape lighting in planted areas requires creating your swimming pool landscape planting design in conjunction with your lighting design. Place planting beds around your swimming pool paving.
These can be beds standing alone, or they can connect to other landscaping beds. The connection is a nice design element as it makes it all look unified.
If the beds are alone, make sure they are large and important. There is nothing worse than an insignificant area of plants.
Give Harold a call at 561.204.3000 or fill out our consultation form here. One of our lighting experts will do a free consult and evaluation on your lighting today.
