Landscape Lighting
Low-voltage landscape lighting across Northern Nevada
Landscape lighting is the half of outdoor lighting most Reno and Sparks properties are missing. A 12-volt system lets us place light exactly where the property earns it — and, just as importantly, nowhere it does not.
Why low voltage matters
A 12-volt system, fed by a concealed transformer and buried wire, lets us use small fixtures that disappear into planting, run many of them from a single transformer, and adjust the design cheaply as beds fill in.
It also changes what is possible. Line-voltage work means conduit, permits, and trenching that tears through established beds. Low voltage lets us route wire around root balls and irrigation lines with a spade rather than a trencher, which is why a full front-yard system can go in without the garden looking excavated afterwards.
Energy draw across an entire yard is a fraction of a single old halogen floodlight. Running dusk to dawn, most residential systems cost pennies a night.
Where landscape lighting goes on a typical property
Most properties use four or five of these techniques. Using all of them everywhere is how a yard ends up looking like a car lot.
- Uplighting for specimen trees — pines, aspens, and mature deciduous canopy
- Grazing across stone, stucco, and boulder walls to bring out texture
- Wash lighting for broad hedges, fences, and garden walls
- Path and step lighting along walks, stairs, and grade changes
- Moonlighting — downlights mounted high in a tree, throwing dappled light onto a patio
- Silhouetting ornamental grasses and sculptural plants against a wall
- Water feature, pool surround, and driveway entry lighting
Designed for high-desert ground
Much of Reno and Sparks sits on decomposed granite and hardpan, and it changes how a system gets built. DG does not hold a stake the way topsoil does, so a fixture set at the perfect angle in April can be pointing at the sky by June after a windy spring. We use longer stakes, and in the worst ground we set fixtures in a small collar so the aim holds.
Hardpan also means wire routing has to be planned rather than improvised — and there is usually irrigation drip line a few inches down that nobody wants cut. Add mature pines whose surface roots run wide and shallow, and the difference between a crew that has worked this soil and one working from a standard spec shows up in the first season.
The last local factor is water. Low-voltage fixtures sit in beds that get irrigated daily through summer, so sealed, corrosion-resistant housings matter more here than the price difference suggests.
What it costs
Landscape lighting is priced per project after an on-site design, because fixture count is a design decision rather than a formula. What moves the number:
How much of the property you want lit and how many fixtures that takes; transformer size and whether one or several are needed; total wire run and how much of it crosses hardscape or established beds; fixture specification, since solid brass costs more than composite and lasts far longer; the height of the trees being uplit, which drives beam spread and output; and whether existing beds and irrigation make routing straightforward or slow.
Most homeowners start with the front elevation and a few specimen trees, then extend to the back yard on the same transformer once they have lived with it. We size the first phase with that in mind. You get a fixture-by-fixture plan and a fixed written price before anything is ordered.
Landscape lighting across Reno & Sparks
The best landscape lighting work in this valley is on the older, established lots — Caughlin Ranch, Old Southwest Reno, and the mature Galena properties, where thirty-year-old pines and deciduous canopy give us something worth uplighting. Newer developments in Damonte Ranch and South Meadows need a different approach, leaning on stonework, grasses, and architectural grazing until the planting matures.
In Sparks we work across Spanish Springs, Wingfield Springs, and the Sparks Marina area. We also serve Carson City, Verdi, Incline Village, and Washoe Valley.
Get a landscape lighting design
Tell us a little about the property and we will walk it after dark, when you can actually see what the light will do. You will get a fixture-by-fixture plan and a fixed written price.
- Free evening design walk across Reno and Sparks
- Fixture-by-fixture plan before anything is ordered
- Re-aiming visits included as planting matures
Prefer to talk? (775) 451-3353
Landscape lighting questions
How many fixtures does a typical property need?
It depends entirely on what is worth lighting rather than on square footage. A front elevation with three mature trees and a stone wall might take eight to twelve fixtures; a large lot with a back garden and pool surround can take several times that. We count them on site and show you the plan before you commit.
Will trenching damage my trees or irrigation?
Low-voltage wire is buried shallow and routed by hand around root zones and drip lines, not cut through with a trencher. Surface roots on mature pines are exactly why we plan the route on site rather than working from a drawing.
What happens as the landscape grows in?
Plants move, and a fixture aimed perfectly at a young tree is aimed at a bare trunk five years later. We come back to re-aim, adjust brightness, and relocate fixtures as beds mature. That ongoing adjustment is part of doing landscape lighting properly, not an upsell.
Are brass fixtures worth the difference?
In this climate, generally yes. Solid brass and copper develop a patina and keep working; thinner composite housings tend to chalk under high-elevation UV and crack through freeze-thaw. We will quote both and explain where each makes sense on your property.
Can landscape lighting be added to a system I already have?
Often, yes — if the existing transformer has capacity and the wire is in serviceable condition. We test both before quoting an extension rather than assuming.
Related services
Reno, Nevada
Let’s light it right.
Book a free evening walk of the property. You will see a fixture-by-fixture plan and a rendering of your own home lit before you commit to anything.