Ideas for Landscape Lighting in Oak Trees

About Oak Trees

• The oak tree, also known as the Lithocarpus or Quercus, is deciduous, meaning that it produces leaves in the spring, sheds them in the fall and is inactive during the winter. Its leaves are broad; and once it reaches between 20 and 50 years in age, it will produce acorns in the fall. This sturdy shade tree, part of the Beech family, grows in different shapes, such as the rounded Live Oak, the oval Overcup Oak and the pyramidal Pin Oak. The size and spread of the trees vary as well. The Scarlet Oak can grow as high as 80 feet and has a shade spread of 40 to 50 feet while the Pin Oak grows between 60 and 70 feet in height and has a shade spread of 25 to 40 feet.

Added Security

• Let your oak trees do double-duty by providing shade in the summer and security throughout the year. If your oak is within 10 feet of the house, install ground lights that point up at the tree. Make use of a timing mechanism that will turn the lights on at dusk. Enhance the beauty and security of the lights with additional ground lights operated by a motion sensor, which turns them on only when activated by a person or animal moving near the house. Bullet-type fixtures cast a beam of light that is narrow and concentrated on a single item, such as the trunk of the tree or its wide, leaf-covered branches, and hopefully not a burglar skulking around your house.

Added Ambiance

• Transform your century-old oak from a fixture in the backyard to its focus. Enhance the beauty of a lush oak in summer with up-lighting. Place waterproof well lights in the ground to cast a wide beam of light on the oak's trunk and canopy of leaves. Your tree will be illuminated, and no one can see the carefully hidden fixture. Consider the opposite of up-lighting: down-lighting. Position the light fixture on the tree's branches or its sturdy trunk and aim it so that the beam of light is concentrated on the foliage. The best fixture should have a housing made of either copper or brass. A durable fixture will withstand the autumnal falling of acorns.

Added Beauty

• Highlight the beauty of two or more oaks with a ground-based floodlight that casts a bright beam of 40 degrees. If using two or more floodlights, place them far enough apart and point them away from each other so that the beams of light don't cross. Create an intimate seating area under the trees with spotlights installed on the tree's sturdy branches. Enhance the intimacy or create a party atmosphere with a candelabra hanging from a branch. Use battery-operated flame-less candles or, if using real candles, hang the candelabra from a branch devoid of leaves.