Lights.com—Outdoor Landscape Lighting
Ideally, a landscape lighting system will be a part of your initial landscape design. If it is being installed after the fact, it is important that the lights enhance the landscaping rather than drawing attention away from it. A landscape (even on as small a scale as a suburban yard) is made up of many elements that contribute to the landscape as a whole. Lights should therefore accentuate the individual elements as well as connect the whole. Therefore, overhead flood lights situated on the perimeter are not the best solution.
A landscape should be considered first as its separate elements. Walkways, flowerbeds, fountains, statuaries, and architectural design elements should be lit individually. Much of this can be accomplished with low-voltage light sets, post lanterns, miniature spot lights, and in-ground flood lights. Light color is a concern where the colors of the objects lit is as important as the form of the objects--like flowers. Keep in mind, though, that light becomes less pleasing to the eye the closer it gets to the red-orange end of the spectrum.
Once all of the individual elements are lit (or planned to be lit), you can focus on bringing it all together. Flood lights are usually the lights of choice for this purpose. The floods should not be so bright that they overpower the individual lighting elements, and their main light concentrations should be on the in-between areas. The flood lights should, ideally, be uniform in their brightness, light color, and area of illumination. It is this uniformity that provides the framework for the design.
Doing It Yourself or Having It Done for You
If you have a good eye for design and have strong feelings about how it should be done, you should consider doing it yourself. Installing landscape lighting is often just a matter of sticking the lights in the ground and screwing them into walls. However, hiring a professional designer comes with several benefits. He or she will usually be able to provide you with detailed drawings of the finished product, beforehand for your approval. (You may even be able to choose between several designs.) Plus, they will do the actual work.