Light the Night Illuminating the Home Landscape
by: Julie barnes
Photo Credit: Kichler Lighting
Having worked in the landscaping industry for 15 years, Jonathan Ahlstedt thinks of each client’s yard as a blank canvas. There’s an artfulness to pulling together a cohesive, tasteful yet functional design—so it only makes sense that each masterpiece can be enjoyed even after the sun goes down. “I typically talk to my clients about their landscaping, and then I ask them if they’ve ever thought about lighting,”
62 | Summer 2021 Saskatoon HOME
says Jonathan, owner of Ahlstedt’s Landscape Contracting. “Many people have never conceived of it before, or they can only imagine themselves being in their yard during the day.” Jonathan, who lives in Montgomery, has a young family and a spacious backyard. “On a warm fall evening, the sun goes down at 6 p.m. and we turn on our big spotlights in the backyard and we’re playing soccer, catch and Frisbee. It’s the best thing—we can play outside
as late as we want.” Homeowners, he says, should ask themselves how lighting could help them enjoy their yard more at night. For some, that could mean lighting a space they use for entertaining, or drawing attention to garden beds, water features, stately trees, pathways or structures like pergolas and arbours. Rainbow Connection On a recent project in Evergreen, Jonathan created a landscape design that
included almost 100 lights. In the backyard, a staircase leading to a hot tub has two lights integrated into each step, and wall sconces light up the hot tub area. Landscape lights (see sidebar) illuminate a once shady garden. But it’s a fixture in the front yard that truly shines, says Jonathan. “I suggested that we do some uplighting on a Scotch pine tree.” He told his client about a colour-customized Wi-Fi controlled option, and his
