Texas Hill Country Night Sky

One of the many charms of the Texas Hill Country is the beautiful night sky. Some homeowners may think they should avoid installing outdoor lighting in order to preserve the night sky. However, with responsible outdoor lighting design, not only can you enjoy the night sky but also enjoy your outdoor living space.

I’ve lived in the Hill Country for most of my life, and have always enjoyed the stars and the night sky. We take many steps to bring ambiance, security, and safety to your property while taking in deep consideration of the stars in the night sky. As proud members of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), we try to educate clients on the differences between what we do and what everyone else does in the lighting landscape lighting world.

We recently completed a lighting design project in the Texas Hill Country that is an amazing example of outdoor lighting that not only protects the night sky but also enhances it!  This craftsman style home called for a mix of warm and cool lighting to best complement the home and property features.  For the façade of the home, we designed warm LED uplights that had shields to keep the lighting directed at the home. The beautiful trees provided a great opportunity to create the moonlighting effect which is our specialty.

The moonlighting effect requires the installation of the lights high up in the tree and our crew is the best at getting to the right height for the best effect. The moonlighting effect is cast by cool LED lighting which allows the trees to cast beautiful shadows and light below.  This method highlights the tree and the surrounding area without affecting the night sky. The moonlight effect is a method of lighting the landscape and the trees to cast beautiful shadows and light on the grass and the plants below, all the while grazing the textured bark of our live oak tree’s grand twisted branching structure. Done correctly, this method highlights the tree and the surrounding area without affecting the night sky.

Looking for more information on the dark sky initiative? We have previously done a series of posts on the  key features to consider when designing an outdoor lighting plan that is also dark sky friendly.

Visit the International Dark-Sky Association for more information https://www.darksky.org/