In putting this issue together we were looking at possible cover shots and the first two we picked came from Randall Whitehead?EUR??,,????'???s article about what to do and what not to do and . . . You guessed it . . . they were from the ?EUR??,,????'??Not-to-do?EUR??,,????'?? section. After closer examination and with the author?EUR??,,????'???s explanation, we eventually saw the reasoning in the advice. However, it just goes to show you how subjective landscape beauty can be.

To some, having lights in the landscape, any lights, is as taboo as eating cookies without milk. Would you light up Yosemite Falls? How about illuminating the Grand Canyon? It could be done, but some things are better left to nature . . . after all, there really is dark at night . . .

In some cases though, lighting is as necessary as diapers on a baby . . . even to the point of being life saving . . . picture a stroll through an unlit Battery Park . . . or a saunter down a stairway on a moonless night . . . Here lighting adds more than just beauty.

To some the fixture is the object of beauty. To others it?EUR??,,????'???s the shadow cast that makes the picture perfect. While still others play with the angles to cast the brightness in the ?EUR??,,????'??ohh just so . . .?EUR??,,????'?? perfect places.

The point here is that lighting, like landscape, is a wonderful and wondrous thing, with no two landscapes and no two opinions about the landscape quite the same.

Don?EUR??,,????'???t get me wrong, now . . . There are definite dos and don?EUR??,,????'???ts when it comes to lighting the landscape. For instance, you don?EUR??,,????'???t want to shine a bright light in the eyes of a driver as they enter a busy street . . . nor should you light your neighbor?EUR??,,????'???s private patio with your floods . . . At the same time, you always want to illuminate each step of a stairway . . . And if you want to provide safety, be sure to light the areas the bad guys can lie-in-wait . . .

But beyond these and a few others, the palette is open to interpretation and no matter what you believe or what you desire the only right answer is what the client wants . . . all the rest are just helpful hints applied with one part knowledge, one part skill and one part trial and error . . .

We recently wrote an article in Landscape Contractor National magazine about a lighting designer/installer, who has developed the tools to set up his lights so the client can mix and match, pick and choose and yea or nay any or all of the lights and effects . . . before a single trench is dug. Granted, many clients just expect you to provide the right answers, but for those who want it their way, simulation and field presentations are a great way to get it right the first time.

In today?EUR??,,????'???s world where the astronomers think the stars are enough and anything else is light pollution, but where a burnt-out bulb can result in an assault or serious accident, your job . . . lighting the landscape of your design . . . has become a complex process worthy of your undivided attention, your unequalled application of skill and talent and, of course, your well-earned fee . . .

?EUR??,,????'??+God Bless