Lighting palms at night

[PalmWarbler]

A few more pics to add to the thread. Really liking these path lights, and the uplighting does add a very nice aura about the place at night. Thanks to everyone for the input!

 

[WestCoastGal]

Real nice look. You have a beautiful palm garden setting there. I'm kind of surprised the solar path light can get enough sun to charge them with the overhead canopy. Wouldn't have expected that. That pathway at night looks really inviting now. Nice job. Other than the wire length any other issues you encountered or have advice to offer?

[PalmWarbler]

1 hour ago, WestCoastGal said:

Real nice look. You have a beautiful palm garden setting there. I'm kind of surprised the solar path light can get enough sun to charge them with the overhead canopy. Wouldn't have expected that. That pathway at night looks really inviting now. Nice job. Other than the wire length any other issues you encountered or have advice to offer?

I'm equally surprised at the solar path lights, they charge just fine under that canopy, and ones I have that get even less light charge fine as well. I didn't expect that.

One thing I did come across is the beam width on the bulbs. If you search the description I posted above on Amazon, you can search for that light style in different wattages as well as beam width (flood vs spot). Other posters have shown pics of some darned beautiful settings and their palms are more mature/tall. I'm no expert but I'd think that the taller the tree the more you'd lean towards the "spot" beam angles vs the flood. The ones I installed are rather wide/flood angles at 60 degree and they work fine as my trees are not that mature yet (and on some palms like the Hyophorbe lagenicaulis in the photos might be best  to stay with the wide beam angles to light such a short/wide palm).

Others may have more to add but that's what I've noticed in the short time I've tinkered with them.

Edited December 28, 2015 by PalmWarbler

[Ben in Norcal]

That looks great, Tom.  I can't wait for my bits and pieces to arrive!

[WestCoastGal]

From what I gathered from our outdoor lighting demo meeting a few years ago, tree lighting usually requires at least 2 fixtures on each tree to get the best look, so for larger, taller trees that would help provide sufficient light. There are also different widths and shapes of fixtures (including shields that will tend to direct the light in a more focused path) and lumens (watts and number of LEDs used as well as beam spread) involved in the equation. Throw that in with using subtle colored lenses (not holiday style) to bring out the best color in the plants or accent pieces, and a well lit landscape takes a lot of thought and pre-planning. More than what we decided to tackle ourselves. 

Hubby had connected a few of our initial LED fixtures in our yard and put them on a small transformer with a timer. Decided though that we'll bring someone in to set up the whole yard leaving it to the professionals to specify fixtures and lamps for us. It gets pricey if you have a lot you want to light or put into groupings and I think maybe hubby got concerned about restocking fees if we didn't choose well. 

BTW if you really get into it, you can sometimes get the tables from the manufacturer for the lamps that diagram the beam width and distance, etc. (sorry forgot what they are called). When we bought our BBQ LED lighting fixtures we were very hands on since we specified and bought the fixtures and lamps ourselves, and we used the tables to get the right wattage and beam spread for the lamps so that our countertop would be sufficiently lit where we needed it to be. 

[PalmWarbler]

On 12/27/2015, 6:30:17, PalmWarbler said:

A few more pics to add to the thread. Really liking these path lights, and the uplighting does add a very nice aura about the place at night. Thanks to everyone for the input!

 

Just thought I'd update this thread, as the path lights I used in the photos above are on closeout on Amazon for $1.81/light. Yup, under $2. I found out because I went to buy batteries for a few of mine that have died and it's cheaper to buy the whole light than to put batteries in them.

Here's the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A52B7CS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FYI: I have no commercial interest in these lights, just passing along a killer deal on lights that have worked fabulously and lasted for me.

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks.  I have just ordered two boxes, but I must admit that I have NEVER had success with solar lights.  They never seem to last more than an hour after dark.  Even those which I have placed in sunny areas did not last very long after dark.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that these will be of superior quality and will produce a decent output in the shade.

[Steve Mac]

Personal taste but I prefer the white compared to the yellow lights.

I have both, and in strip light/rope form too. I have a few colours as well, green, red, blue.

But I prefer the white and not too bright either, I prefer them to look subtle when  my eyes are dark adapted,

rather than making a statement from a distance. 

Also I found electrical tape useless, water still tracks in, I now seal and cover joins with silicone glue.

Cheap, quick, 100% effective, just a little messy the once that you do it. 

[PalmWarbler]

I hope these work as well for you guys as they have for me. After 2 years, probably 70% of my original lights still work. The others... could be batteries or other issues but for $1.80/light I'm not bothering to check them!

As far as how long they stay lit, when new a lot of them are still lit in the morning, although dimly. After 2 years, I don't have any still lit in the morning but they are still lasting at least 4 hours past dark. I'm old and don't stay up any later than that anymore :-)

[Sandy Loam]

.... and that's in a shaded area too?  Wow.

[PalmWarbler]

18 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

.... and that's in a shaded area too?  Wow.

It does get bits and pieces of direct sun, but for the most part, yes.

One tip I can add: Make sure to push the shaft into the dirt before putting the light head and clear plastic vase on. If you try to assemble the entire light and then push it into the dirt, you'll crack the light if you push too hard. Push the shaft in and then place light on it and you'll have no issues. I just put out a bunch more of these that came in today.

[lapalmeraie]

Nice topic with some stunning pics as well. I also did add some lightning in my garden last year.

First a was blown over by the prices of classic lighting. For 5 spots and connectors the budget did quickly raise over $250... 
I then found 220V LED spots for less than $5,- each and connectors as well on AliExpress. For the 9 spots and 80M cable I finally spend less than $180,-. 

Wish I've done it before!

I made a video on the installation (bottom of the page)

http://palmvrienden.net/gblapalmeraie/2017/10/06/diy-garden-lighting/

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

A lot of my customers have been purchasing inexpensive LED Solar lights from Home depot/lowes and they look fantastic.   

[lapalmeraie]

Down here solar lights didn’t ever last that long. Lack of actual sunshine I suppose 

[Steve Mac]

My wife thinks that this is not the way to light a palm at night.

                                            

[Monòver]

It looks a giant carrot!!!

[Steve Mac]

23 minutes ago, Monòver said:

It looks a giant carrot!!!

A carrot you reckon? That is not what lizzy thinks. 

[lapalmeraie]

[Palmensammler]

[Kris]

Dear Friends,

This is a very interesting topic and palms seem to look their best during night under moonlight or under special lighting. And i came across a dimmable lighting system helpful for both still and video photography.So thought of sharing those details with you all.

Neewer CN-216

Review_1

Review_2

In days to come i will post night stills with palms in them,Its rainy season at the moment.

Love,

Kris.

[Kris]

Here are few stills taken at night,kindly bare with the quality.Iam yet to master night photography.

Chamaedorea Seifrizii This still was taken with the flash on.

Dypsis Lutescens Still taken without flash but with garden lighting.

Bismarckia Nobilis 

Phoenix Canariensis

...

[Kris]

Copernicia Alba

Rhapis Excelsa

Livistona Chinensis

Arenga Engleri

Adonidia Merrillii

.

[PalmWarbler]

Kris, man it is hard to catch the ambiance of lighted palms at night, but those pics sure look inviting. 

[Kris]

16 hours ago, PalmWarbler said:

Kris, man it is hard to catch the ambiance of lighted palms at night, but those pics sure look inviting. 

Dear Tom,

Thanks for those kind words of encouragement.And would surely post clearer stills in the future.

Love,

Kris.

[Orly]

If I wanted to catch the look of illuminated palms at night I would try long exposure photographing on a tripod. 

I just did a quick test myself of my Christmas palms in the front yard.  Too much ambient light overpowers the weak landscape lights in my example.  AlsotThe coloring from the lights is challenging since the weak solar landscaping lights are very white/blueish light at 6000k while the street lights are more yellowish at 2700k and my porch light is pure yellow (bug light).  I used some long exposure times just under a second while on a tripod then adjusted the color temp in post.  Also very windy so motion blur on the swinging fronds.

Given some more time, brighter landscape lights and less ambient street lights, I could do better.

Also, I prefer warmer landscape lighting as opposed to the whiter light. 

Edited November 14, 2017 by Orly

[Kris]

2 hours ago, Orly said:

If I wanted to catch the look of illuminated palms at night I would try long exposure photographing on a tripod. 

I just did a quick test myself of my Christmas palms in the front yard.  Too much ambient light overpowers the weak landscape lights in my example.  AlsotThe coloring from the lights is challenging since the weak solar landscaping lights are very white/blueish light at 6000k while the street lights are more yellowish at 2700k and my porch light is pure yellow (bug light).  I used some long exposure times just under a second while on a tripod then adjusted the color temp in post.  Also very windy so motion blur on the swinging fronds.

Given some more time, brighter landscape lights and less ambient street lights, I could do better.

Also, I prefer warmer landscape lighting as opposed to the whiter light. 

Dear Orlando,

Very nice stills,The photos have come out well 

Love,

Kris.

 

[Steve Mac]

Yeah, I think that you are a bit hard on yourself, I thought that they turned out well.

I didn't go to that much trouble and the hand held long exposure made all of mine blurry,

but the main effect is still there to share.

 

[Kris]

Dear Steve,

Those stills have come out very well.

Love,

Kris.

[Steve Mac]

Here are some more that we took in 2011. A bit of what not to do. We tried different coloured led's.

We thought that green on the palms would be good. It was not attractive.

We thought that blue in the pond would be nice, it was not. On plants it looked like they were sick.

And we thought that red would bring out the red Cordyline, we were wrong again. Green leaves looked purple.

We think that white light looks best. You be the judge.

 

[Orly]

I added some additional lights on my Christmas Palms.  Two of the new lights are more towards the yellow color while I re-used one of my whiter lights.  

This is handheld photo with my iPhone:

[Diego in Kona]

[Palmdude]

Super bright LED’s g-lux series. White warm and color changing lights as well as lasers from bliss lights

[Orly]

56 minutes ago, Palmdude said:

Super bright LED’s g-lux series. White warm and color changing lights as well as lasers from bliss lights

Nice find.  I've always had a good experience with SuperBrightLeds 

[Kris]

22 hours ago, Orly said:

Nice find.  I've always had a good experience with SuperBrightLeds 

Can you give us a link to see that product...Just curious. 

[Orly]

On 1/4/2018, 9:42:03, Kris said:

Can you give us a link to see that product...Just curious. 

https://www.superbrightleds.com/search/led-landscape-lights/g-lux%20series/

 

[Kris]

12 hours ago, Orly said:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/search/led-landscape-lights/g-lux%20series/

 

Thanks very much for the info.