LANDSCAPING TIPS brought to you by the Arizona Landscape Contractors’ Association, the Sustainable Landscape Management (SLM) and the Arizona Certified Landscape Professional (ACLP) programs www.ALCA.org

Maintain & Install Landscape Lighting Systems

It’s hard to believe with these temperatures that winter will soon be upon us.  Days are getting even shorter, so now is the perfect time to have your landscape professional run a maintenance check on your outdoor lighting system. After the check is complete, together you can make informed decisions on how to make the most of your current lighting system. If you don’t yet have landscape lighting, it isn’t too late to have a system installed before those holiday parties!

• Check your timers!  If you are running a mechanical timer, start times are now a lot sooner than summer hours.
• Consider upgrading to an astronomical or web based timer.  There are many options available and these timers automatically adjust to the day length.
• Check your lamps inside the fixtures – turn on the system to see if any lamps are out and need to be replaced.
• If the system is still halogen, upgrade that system to LED.  There are several “drop in” lamps available and you don’t need to re-wire the system to use these LED lamps.  Most LED’s come with a warranty and are rated to last more than 10 years!
• Do the lights seem dim?  Consider cleaning the lenses with warm water and a “magic eraser”.  If you have well lights, clean out the debris and clean the top of the lamp.
• If your fixtures are brass and look dingy – clean them off with Woody’s Wax – they will look good as new – available on Amazon.
• Adjust the fixtures so that they are pointed in the right direction – many fixtures get knocked out of alignment from weekly maintenance and are not positioned as intended.
• Move fixtures as needed to accommodate growing trees and shrubs.  Remember, these lights were likely installed when the plant material was much smaller.