Your Kansas City landscape is your oasis. After long days, you escape there to take deep breaths and enjoy the scenery and the sounds of birds chirping. You might even want to eat dinner out there after grilling your favorite foods in your outdoor kitchen. Al fresco dining surrounded by nature is the most relaxing way to have dinner.
But, depending on the season, seeing what you’re doing at the end of the night can become challenging when the sun starts to set.
The solution: a landscape lighting plan. This simple addition to your home landscape can do wonders for extending the life of your outdoor spaces, as well as your curb appeal.
As you consider adding illumination to your evenings outside, you might be wondering how to find a landscape lighting professional that can give you the look you want and also do the job right. You’re dealing with electricity, after all, so making a smart choice is important.
We’re here to offer some guidance on the types of things you should be inquiring about when it comes to landscape lighting in Kansas City.
The Top 7 Questions to Ask About Landscape Lighting Design
You might think you should focus on specific fixtures or finishes when you’re creating a landscape lighting plan.
But this approach can be very singularly minded for a project that adds this much dimension to your home landscape in Kansas City.
Here are the main questions you should consider asking before you set up a meeting with a landscape lighting designer to ensure you’re well-informed on how the job gets done and that you’re getting exactly what you need from this landscape addition.
1. What Are the Key Elements of Your Lighting Design Strategy?
You want to know you’re getting a quality landscape lighting design. And you want a landscape lighting plan that is customized to your specific needs.
Your landscape salesperson must be able to answer this question to show they have a design strategy, which will result in a higher quality end result.
For instance, at High Prairie, your lighting designs focus on three key areas:
- Function for the best safety and security that landscape lighting can offer.
- Artistic value to help identify unique areas of your home and landscape architecture and find ways to bring them to life in the evenings. To do this, we talk to you to determine your unique tastes and priorities so we can translate them into your lighting design.
- Opportunity to identify areas of your property that can help maximize your beauty and enjoyment of the outdoors. This includes seeking opportunities for highlighting beautiful focal points so you can enjoy your garden from the indoors at any time of year. After all, you spend way too much time indoors to not enjoy your garden views from there as well.
2. Do You Offer Customized Designs or Lighting Package Kits for Landscape Lighting?
If you want to understand how the landscape business you’re interviewing perceives landscape lighting design and its customization potential, ask this question.
Any contractor can purchase pro-grade landscape lighting and plug them in or place a light at each corner of the house and add three pathway lights and call it a day. These “cookie-cutter” kits don’t require any expertise to install. While they technically function, they lack the artistic value that you’re looking for when you hire a professional.
A landscape business that offers customized designs will have invested in more in-depth training for their lighting specialists and will provide more value by assessing your unique property and personal tastes. Missed opportunities in landscape lighting design can not only waste your money, but they can also give you a lackluster end result.
3. What Kind of Training Do Your Lighting Specialists Have?
Discovering the training level of the professionals you’re hiring for outdoor lighting means you can gauge their level of expertise and ability to provide reliable quality.
Years of experience alone doesn’t showcase quality or expertise. The only way to gain this is through high-level, proper training and education.
4. Will the People Working on My Property Have a Clear Background Check?
While this question isn’t about landscape lighting design specifically, it is important when you’re concerned about the safety and security at your home. It can also help you understand the values of the business you’re considering hiring.
A business that doesn’t do background checks is prioritizing their financial gain over your security. We believe businesses have a responsibility to determine the safety and trustworthiness of any person we’re bringing to your property. That’s why we do background checks on every employee, declining anyone who we think might be a risk to our clients or staff members.
5. Tell Me About the Lighting Fixtures You Recommend.
There are different quality levels of landscape lighting design products out there. Even in the professional-grade category, there is a range of durability and longevity available.
Since not all lights are created equal, your contractor should be able to explain their offerings and why they use them, so you have clear expectations on the products that will be installed on your property.
6. Will I Be Able To Add On To Or Change The System If Revisions Are Needed In The Future?
Once you start with lighting, it’s common for people to find opportunities to highlight additional areas. So, planning for flexibility is important in the long-term.
This question can also reveal to you whether the company you hire for landscape lighting design is truly providing customized design services.
Approximately 80 to 90 percent of those who install a landscape lighting kit instead of a customized design end up changing or adding to their systems over time. This means their options for adding to the system or changing it are limited and they’ll likely have to purchase a whole new system, spending more money. If they invested in possible expansion initially, they can add on to their lighting without a lot of hassle or extra expense.
7. How Are Your Lighting Systems Maintained?
Designing landscape lighting and then installing the components is just the beginning.
With weather changes and the nature of outdoors, you want to have help if your landscape lighting system needs maintenance or if you need to change things over time.
Genuine landscape lighting specialists don’t disappear after installation. Knowing the essentials of landscape lighting maintenance and how often it’s needed can help you keep your system delighting you with light longer.
Choosing the Best Landscape Lighting Plan For You
Landscape lighting can be an amazing addition to your Kansas City home landscape, extending your enjoyable time outdoors and bringing some ambiance and glow to your space.
A landscape lighting plan done right can transform your landscape from day to night with ease, giving it new life and a new look. But to do this, it must be done professionally with attention given to your unique home architecture and landscape features.
For best results, you want to work with a seasoned professional. After all, landscape lighting is one of those projects that can give you the greatest return on your investment: additional hours of enjoyment outdoors and a major curb appeal boost. If it’s done incorrectly, you’ll lose all these amazing perks.
As you’re exploring landscape lighting companies in Kansas City, we hope these questions help you narrow your choices. While you’re searching, we’d love it if you’d consider High Prairie as well. We have experts on our team who design and install high-end landscape lighting that can give your yard just the right amount of illumination, as well as safety and security, you need.
Then all you have left to do is bask in the glow, knowing your landscape lighting plan is customized to your space and designed to meet all of your needs.
Ready to see how High Prairie Outdoors can enhance your backyard entertainment areas with landscape lighting design? We’d love to share our design and installation expertise with you and deliver an elevated outdoor experience. Get started today with a free consultation. Together, we can create a solution that works best for you.
