One of my favorite Carex Design Group projects from last year was a landscape lighting design we did for a family in the Farragut area of Knoxville, Tenn. The property had existing landscaping and a house with some cool architectural features that we could highlight. For that project, we used landscape lighting fixtures from a variety of manufacturers — Vista Lighting, Kichler Lighting and FX Luminaire.

I’m often asked which landscape lighting fixtures are the best. The truth is, I use a variety of products from various companies and they all have pros and cons. Here’s the scoop on one of those landscape lighting manufacturers — Vista Lighting.

Why Do We Like Vista Lighting?

• Vista Lighting products are made in America, a rare accomplishment in the electronics industry.
• All fixtures are made-to-order. After you place an order, they make it for you and ship the products within 24 hours.
• Vista Lighting fixtures come in copper, brass or aluminum with one of 15 standard finishes, so it’s easy to match new fixtures with existing lighting, other landscaping elements or your home.
• Vista lighting is involved in many major industry events that we attend where the company offers product training, updates and previews of what’s new.

What’s New and Cool With Vista Landscape Lighting?

The newest feature added to Vista’s lineup is their vPro series transformers. There are three new features to this transformer that make it appealing:

1. Control. New vPro transformers are controlled via a mobile app that serves as your interface with the lighting system. Available for iOS and Android, it allows you to control your system with any Bluetooth-enabled device. It then stores that information within the transformer so you can adjust the lighting, turn things on and off or set a custom program from your phone when you’re within range on your property. You can set multiple on and off events, make daily programs and do on-the-fly changes, all from your device.
2. Multiple Zones. These transformers are now available in two zone set-ups. So you can have front yard and backyard zones on the same transformer (something not available from Vista before). This also allows multiple zones within the same space. Because of this you could have all of the path lights on one zone and up-lights on another so you can control those zones independently of one another enabling you to turn off the up-lighting at 11 p.m. but leave the path lights on all night.
3. Dimming. Not available in landscaping lighting until recently, you now have the option to set your lights to dim. With the new vPro transformer, you can set the program to dim the lights on schedule or you can do so on command. For example, you could keep the lights on at full brightness while you’re home in the evening but then set them to dim at 11 p.m. when you go to sleep.

What Are Our Favorite Fixtures?

Most of the time, the look of the fixture is second to the light it casts. Different fixtures will cast light differently so it is important to vary your choices based on the design. On the flip side, it isn’t necessary to have a lot of different fixtures. Here are some of our favorites based on their application:

Small Up Light (2205) It’s tiny and easy to hide. We also like the output of this little guy.

Large Up Light (3019) This giant 9 LED fixture is great for large trees and lighting in wooded areas.

Moon Light (5006) This fixture has an adjustable shroud with a drop-in LED.

Path Light (4704) This is a clean, simple fixture that is a staple in all of Carex Design Group’s lighting designs.

Step Light (4260) This is a simple, effective step and cap light.

Specialty Light (4246) This recessed wall light is great on steps and within walls.

If you need help choosing fixtures for your landscape lighting or need help designing the right look, fill out our contact form or call me at 865-765-5550. (Check back to the blog soon and we’ll share some information on a couple of our other favorite landscape lighting manufacturers and products.)

You can also check out our other favorite landscape design projects of 2014.