Landscape Lighting Design Workshop with Rob DiSchino of Nightscaping®

In the "Landscape Lighting Design Workshop" attendees learned how to highlight outdoor features and how to use accent lighting to create silhouettes and shadows, and spread lighting to maximize their beauty. We explored landscape lighting design techniques and the interaction of light with different structures and elements in the landscape. Participants experienced the importance of equipment selection and placement to achieve a harmonious design.

Our guest presenter was Rob DiSchino, National Sales Manager for Nightscaping® in Redlands, CA.

Landscape lighting can have many purposes - safety, security, extended viewing and use, or enhancement of the beauty of the garden and structure. Well-designed lighting can transform a landscape into a dramatic scene and add the finishing touch to any outdoor room. It can add magic and illusion by enhancing some outdoor features while leaving others shrouded in mystery. Successful lighting design stems from knowing how to create effects and understanding how to balance light levels between areas of the visual composition.

Landscape lighting design is very similar to the design of the landscape itself: we must determine focal points, use areas, traffic patterns, outdoor "rooms," style, mood, etc. We need to consider how the proposed lighting will enhance the form, color and texture of the soft and hard landscape elements. Lighting should serve to unify both interior and exterior design themes, conceal what may be unattractive and shape the view of the landscape at night.

In this workshop Rob DiSchino showed how you can dramatically change any outside space with the right lighting scheme, whether your goal is to illuminate or highlight areas such as a pathway, deck, patio, pool, architectural plant or feature. He showed us what makes for a successful design and what common mistakes to avoid. He gave expert advice and guidance on the theory, design process, project needs, and techniques of landscape lighting. Whether you’re seeking to sculpt a landscape with light or make an outdoor space more useable at night you learned the creative and technical information needed to beautify your landscaping projects and consistently win client approval.