When it comes to landscape design, it is important to create focal points. These outdoor focal points will capture people’s attention and enhance the outdoor space’s overall aesthetic. There are many ways to create stunning and unique focal points for outdoor environments. Lighting professionals can assist their clients in utilizing outdoor landscape light fixtures to highlight these outdoor landscape focal points.
This blog will shed light on what focal points are, how to create them for any outdoor environment, and how to use outdoor landscape light fixtures to showcase them after the sun sets.
What can be used as Focal Points for Outdoor Environments?
With a little imagination and hard work, focal points can be incorporated into any landscape design.
- Natural features: Alandscape’s natural features are an easy way to create focal points. They are already part of the outdoor space and with a bit of additional care and maintenance, they can become stunning outdoor landscape focal points. A large tree, colorful flowers in pretty vases, rocks or boulders can bring attention to the natural beauty of the outdoor landscape.
- Water features: Pools, ponds, fountains, and otherwater features make great focal points. Additionally, the sound of rushing water can also have a calming effect. Sitting by these water features could increase relaxation, making an outdoor space a perfect place to unwind after a long day. Bring attention to them by planting pretty flowers, installing colorful lights, or adding colorful accents or furniture.
- Man made objects: For example, setting arches at the beginning of pathways is a great way to mark its start. A bench underneath a large, shady tree would provide people not only with a cool thing to look at, but a resting point. Statues and other artwork surrounded by nature could bring more beauty to an already beautiful landscape.
From trees, plants, furniture, water features, statues, artwork, flag poles, ceramic pots, these focal points will create order and visual interest to any outdoor space.
3 Things to Consider When Creating Outdoor Landscape Focal Points
Every outdoor landscape will be different. To create outdoor landscape focal points that will not only be suitable, but enhance the outdoor space, keep these things in mind.
- Size: The size of the outdoor space will help determine what and how many focal points to incorporate into the landscape design. A small space may require fewer and smaller focal points to avoid overcrowding and keep everything proportional. A larger outdoor space may require larger and more focal points to break the space into smaller sections and give more visual appeal.
- Soil and Climate: If plants are to be focal points, take into consideration the outdoor space’s soil and climate type. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Mapserves as “general guides for growing perennial plants.” This information will be helpful when choosing which plants to incorporate into a landscape design to optimize the plants’ suitability for the climate.
- Be different: Don’t be afraid to be creative in creating and designing focal points. Find plants, statues, or artwork that brings out a unique sense of style and taste. That is what truly makes an outdoor space magical.
How to Light Outdoor Landscape Focal Points
With all the work that goes into designing and creating stunning focal points, you’d want them to shine at all times. Outdoor landscape light fixtures will keep the attention on these outdoor landscape focal points, even in the dark.
- Use up lights, down lightsto highlight tall structures like trees or flag poles. Up lights are positioned on the ground and their narrow beams of light can shine upwards, highlighting a tree’s trunk and branches or statue’s smallest details. Down lights are positioned above the ground and shine their light downward. They can give a moonlight effect to anything below them.
- In-ground lightsare installed flush to the ground. They can also be used to highlight tall structures, act as a beacon, or illuminate a pathway.
- Path lightsnot only can be used to light up walkways, but they can also be used to light up the surrounding area. Place colorful plants or little statues underneath path lights to give an additional bit of visual interest.
- For water features such as pools, fountains, or ponds, underwater lightsare specifically designed and suited to be in underwater environments. They are a great way to make any water feature shine at night.
- Installing outdoor landscape light fixtures around focal points will ensure that attention is on them at all times.
Light up Outdoor Landscape Focal Points with LightCh8in
Creating outdoor landscape focal points to incorporate in any landscape design, like planting unique trees or installing stone statues, will bring attention to an outdoor space. They will give an outdoor space dimension and visual allure. Illuminating these outdoor focal points with thoughtfully chosen outdoor light fixtures will help highlight them in the dark.
Lighting professionals can partner with LightCh8in to assist their clients in lighting beautiful outdoor focal points. Our extensive inventory includes all the light bulbs, light fixtures, accessories, and cable required. Log in to or register for a LightCh8in account now to shop all things outdoor landscape lighting!