Suddenly, they’re dramatic and elegant. They even look more expensive. The neighbors might start whispering. 

Tall trees like palms, magnolia, and oaks all get the same type of uplighting, with MR-16 bulbs that shine light from the ground up. But these lights come in various widths and wattages to allow for flexibility so each tree can get just the right effect.

Give your short trees some love, too.

Shorter palms and shrubs look great with “wall washer” fixtures that have a large mirror to help scatter the light all over to highlight the tree’s features.

Here, the bulbs are lower wattages, so the up-close plants don’t get washed out with too much light.

Speaking of Too Much Light…

Don’t go crazy out there. You’re going for curb appeal here, not a hospital operating room look. Don’t light everything.

If you spotlight every tree, shrub, and plant, you’re not enhancing your curb appeal with landscape lighting. You’re just washing out your yard and making it look garish. Spend a few minutes really looking at your landscaping features. What are your favorites?

It’s those fluffy fronds of your Foxtail Palm, right? We knew it. Love those things. Light those, so people passing by can appreciate them, too.

Don’t Forget the Driveway

Driveways these days can be underfoot works of art, with dazzling patterns, colors, and textures. They’re almost too pretty to drive on, right?We often talk about the importance of lighting driveways for safety, but highlighting an impressive paver driveway with a wash of light adds great curb appeal, too. It’s a great example of how an everyday feature of your home can increase curb appeal with landscape lighting.

Use This Guide To Create The Landscape of Your Dreams

Make It Welcoming

Everybody knows you need lighting at your front door so people can find their way without tripping and first responders can read your address at night.

But go beyond safety and use lighting to make a beautiful, welcoming front entrance — it’s a great place to increase curb appeal with outdoor lighting. Update lighting fixtures that are old, out of style, or too small. Go bigger to make a real design statement.

Add big dramatic planters to your front porch with bold plants, and light those, too.

Landscape Lighting for Curb Appeal: Pretty Plants

Those plants you walk past everyday, no big deal, can add stunning curb appeal with the right lighting at night.

Plants with lacy leaves or frilly fronds cast delicate, captivating shadows with expert lighting. Add extra drama to big, bold tropical plants. That six-foot tall spectacular Croton adds stunning color to your yard during the day, but dramatic shadows at night.

Uplight your Pygmy Date Palm and watch how its multiple trunks take on a whole new look once the sun goes down.

You’ve invested a lot in your Central Florida landscaping plants. Put them to work to enhance curb appeal with landscape lighting.

Flexible Lighting at Your Fingertips

Consider a landscape lighting system with separate zones you can control. That lets you put your front yard on its own timer, to stay on longer than your backyard, for bonus curb appeal.