The 20-Acre Make-Over

By Jason Potthoff, JP Lawncare & Landscaping

The contractor used 5-watt wall-wash lights on the plants, and then they employed LED 8.5-watt narrow-beam spotlights in the background. The fixture was mounted via screws just below the branch line to highlight the tree's canopy. Photos: Jason Potthoff, JP Lawncare & Landscaping

Indiana landscape contractor firm, JP Lawncare & Landscaping approached their largest maintenance customer about adding some low-voltage lighting to their property. The Braun home, which is located a couple miles south of Winamac, sits on approximately 20 acres, which includes 15 acres of turf and landscape beds.

The property's garden consists of mostly annuals and perennials, and features a commercially constructed gazebo that sits on a wooded hillside outfitted with an outdoor kitchen and fireplace. The gazebo has been a place for seasonal outdoor entertainment over the years.

To backlight a small evergreen tree, the contractor used a 4.5-watt 60-degree LED wide-beam spotlight. The contractor used all direct burial wire and dug it 6-8 inches down in the landscape beds then covered the wiring with fresh mulch. The area contains Canadian hemlock surrounded by various hosta varieties.

The down-lighted elm tree shown here came by using a 5-watt Vista LED GR3002 spotlight. When installed in this manner, the lights can create shadows while simultaneously providing lighting to the walking path. In all the trees with down lights, the contractor stapled the wire up the tree on the least visible side.

The perennials and annuals were breathtaking during the daylight hours, and the contractor convinced the homeowner that a lighting system could extend their enjoyment of the garden into the nighttime hours. The company's representative from Automatic Irrigation Supply was more than happy to meet with them to assist with the design, and also to give the company a quote on the materials needed to complete the project.

Because of the size and scope of the project, the contractor came to an agreement to complete the project on a time and material basis. This turned out to be a great value for the Braun's and it provided JP Lawncare and landscape with invaluable training and experience building.

The contractor used 4-watt LED pathlights to accent featured plants. All of the project's lights were wired to eight transformers; JP Lawncare & Landscaping had an electrical contractor hard-wire the transformers, and then JP completed the rest of the work itself. More than 6,000 feet of low-voltage wiring was used in total.

The contractor used 4-watt LED pathlights to illuminate the walkways; all 12-volt power comes via direct-bury low-voltage lighting cable. The project as a whole used more than 160 fixtures in total.

LED Lights The Way

Because of power supply concerns, long-term maintenance issues, and ease of installation, it was decided to use 100-percent LED fixtures. They used path lights to lighten up the walking areas, many accent or spotlights to brighten up the dark woods, some wall wash lights to highlight annual plantings, and several down-lights for shadowing affects. They also did some lighting of the lawn trees throughout the property and some lighting on the home's entrance. However, the focus was on the garden area.

Due to space issues, the vast majority of the work was accomplished using hand tools. The garden was touched up with some fresh mulch when all the wire had been dug in so you could hardly tell where they were laid.

8.5-watt wide-and-narrow beam LED lights were used to illuminate the featured trees. The tree lights were mounted with a special bracket that is attached to a limb with screws.

4.5-watt LED narrow-beam spots were installed by the contractor to accent a garden arbor. The entire project was completed using two workers over a 6-day period.

Turning Challenges Into Opportunities

It rained one day and instead of just leaving the guys sitting in the gazebo, JP unboxed, and put all the fixtures together so they were ready to go when needed. Blake Kasten, the company's irrigation and lighting expert spearheaded the project.

''Because of their lower wattage consumption, using LED fixtures allowed the contractor to put more lights on a run than if they used standard incandescent fixtures,'' declared Potthoff. ''A typical LED fixture uses 4-5 watts where many incandescent fixtures use 15-20 watts. This also resulted in the use of less wire. Maintenance issues are also minimized with the LED fixtures as manufacturers are expecting bulb life to be in excess of 12 years,'' he concluded.

For a wider light-spread, the contactor used a 5-watt LED wall-wash specialty light, illustrating how a wall-wash can be used to light and accent plants and flowers.

The contractor installed 4.5-watt 60-degree LED wide-beam spotlights to accent the trees around the house; the company also employed two 4.5-watt narrow-beam LED spots to light a flower urn in the front of the main entrance.

The Benefits Of Education

The contractor has been installing low-voltage lighting for three years, and has found it a nice complement to some of the other services the company offers. They were introduced to the concept by their irrigation product supplier, Automatic Irrigation Supply Company, which is located in Fishers, Indiana.

Educational classes were offered on various topics during the winter months and so JP Lawncare & Landscaping decided to attend one of the classes focused on low-voltage lighting. It was a class focused on the basic design and installation. Later they attended more advanced classes, and the results speak for themselves.