Backyard & Pool Area Lighting

One area that is often overlooked by pool designers is backyard and pool area lighting. This is beginning to change as homeowners want to stay at home and enjoy their backyard environment. Now that the daylight savings period is over, many people leave for work when it is still dark and return after dark, only getting weekends to enjoy the beautiful landscaping and pool environment that they have spent thousands of dollars creating. In addition to the aesthetic benefits, safety (to avoid injury) and security (to avoid intrusion by a trespasser) are also benefits of lighting.

After determining what your reasons are for your outdoor lighting, take a tour of your backyard and determine what you would like to illuminate. Then stand inside at the back of your house and determine what you would like to see when viewing the backyard and pool area at night. After determining what you plan on illuminating, the next step is determining what type of lighting technique would best provide the desired look for the particular item that you are illuminating, followed by determining what type of fixtures would best serve your needs, and then selecting the proper method of controlling your lights.

Uplighting-As the name implies, lights are aimed upward to illuminate. This is a particularly good method of illuminating trees.
Downlighting-This method works very well to create a light over outdoor activity areas, such as patios.
Spotlighting-This method tends to work well when trying to light waterfalls, statues, and occasionally plants or small trees.
Pathlighting-This is often done for safety as well as aesthetics.
Moonlighting-This is an increasingly popular method of lighting . It is most often done by mounting the lights in mature trees, with the fixture pointing downward. It tends to create the same shadowing effect as a full moon, creating a natural effect.

Decorative fixtures-typically add to the landscaping during the day as décor.
Lanterns-This illumination is typically a soft light.
Path fixtures-This type of lighting creates lighting for pathways during the nighttime and decoration during the daytime.
Mounted or hanging fixtures-The main purpose of these types of fixtures is decoration, but they also provide some light benefit. The mounted variety are usually mounted n a post or an exterior wall. Hanging fixtures are less common, but are also used occasionally.

Functional fixtures-typically hidden from view and provide lighting benefits only.
Ground mounted fixtures-These are very common and are used to highlight structures, objects, or plants.
Surface mounted fixtures-Typically mounted on a building or tree to provide general lighting or accent lighting.
Ground-recessed fixtures-These lights are mounted below grade (flush with the ground) and typically used for highlight trees, statues, etc.

The Landscape Lighting Book by Janet Lennox Moyer
The Art of Outdoor Lighting by Randall Whitehead.

There are many different considerations when planning and implementing backyard and pool area lighting, therefore it might be helpful to consult a landscape architect or lighting expert to help determine the best solution for your backyard and pool area