To complete the outdoor Environment of the church facility you need lighting and landscaping. Since the church is not simply used in the daytime, lighting needs to be provided, at a minimum, for safety and security purposes. Additionally, lighting can be used to enhance the presentation of a facility to the community at night. Most municipalities have ordinance requirements for a minimum of lighting in the parking areas at night. Typically, the night lighting only needs to be on during hours of operations, lest you fear, from an economy standpoint, that you will need to pay for night lighting all night long, seven days a week. Controlling the lighting is part of the building design, with the use of electronic timers and photo-cells which can be programmed according to the schedule of the church during the week. 

The lighting itself can often be either building-mounted or pole-mounted, depending upon the size of the parking area. Building-mounted lighting tends to be less expensive; however, it is usually much less desirable from an aesthetic standpoint. In order to project the light out into the parking area the fixtures have to be very strong. As a result this produces a strong glare when looking towards the building. Pole-mounted site lighting tends to be more economical with taller fixtures and stronger lights; however, many municipalities regulate this. Additionally, the end result of tall light poles and string light fixtures, tends to be more industrial, and hence, uninviting. The Technology for parking lot lighting fixtures has advanced greatly. Lighting layouts should always be determined by a qualified Engineer utilizing what is known as the “photo-metrics” of the light fixtures. (A light distribution panel that determines the spread and illumination level of the fixture.) Proper placement of fixtures can provide a nice even illumination level throughout the parking areas. When selecting the placement for the fixtures it is also important to coordinate this with the location of trees and landscaping, particularly in parking islands. For instance, you may be placing shade trees at regular intervals throughout the parking lot on planted islands. Over the years these trees are bound to get rather large. If not properly coordinated with the location of the light fixtures, these trees will wind up blocking the spread of light over the parking area. For this reason it is best to design the lighting in conjunction with the landscaping plan for the property. 

Light poles also provide the opportunities for decorative banners displaying seasonal Events throughout the life of the Church. Poles can be selected that already have banner brackets on them and the poles themselves can be of a more decorative nature. 

Another thing to consider in the area of site lighting is the presentation of the building itself at night. Accent lights can be located in the surrounding landscape, as projection lamps from surrounding poles, or even roof and building mountings to accent the various aspects of the building. Ground mounted landscape lighting can be used to provide up-lighting on the face of the building making the building visible from the roadway at night. A fair amount of lighting can also be used to accent the landscaping. Up-lighting specimen trees, enables more of the campus of the church to be read at night as well as the building. It is important to consider, not just the presence of a light, but what the light source is. Generally, the brighter or the whiter the light, the better it will give a true reading of building colors. Poor sources of light are sodium fixtures which tend to give greenish or yellowish tones or cause colors to disappear altogether. Again, a qualified lighting consultant should be engaged to design building accent lighting. 

Signage, identifying the Church, can also be illuminated in several ways: either as ground-mounted accent lighting, or internally illuminated, if zoning laws permit such signs. When it comes to lighting, the bottom line is to consider all aspects of the facility at night-time: safety and security for people going in and out of the building and how the building and grounds present themselves to the community. 

As previously mentioned, landscaping layouts should be coordinated with the lighting, but is also a concern in and of itself. Very often by the time the Church has constructed its new facility and invested in the necessary site improvements, such as parking, lighting, etc. there is very little money left over for the landscaping. Consequently, a church may start off with a rather “naked” facility. Alternatively, the church may have a workday during which they plant cheap trees and scrubs to try and prevent the naked appearance. However, this approach usually backfires over time, because, less expensive trees and scrubs tend to be ones that grow very rapidly, and in a short time the building can be overpowered and covered up by the landscaping. We strongly recommend that a qualified landscape designer or landscape architect be retained to design the landscaping to coordinate and enhance the building. 

The problem often with getting a design from a landscaper is that the materials may not be well-thought out in terms of coordination with the building and the growth over time. Again, since economy often plays a big part in landscaping the trees and scrubs selected by the landscaper may tend to be those less expensive and therefore grow more quickly. Larger trees or scrubs may be perfect to provide a mature look initially, however the church may find itself in a “scrub war;” constantly battling the growth that the plants want to put on each year. The cost for such routine maintenance may far outweigh the savings initially gained by using less expensive trees and scrubs. In addition to the aesthetic considerations of the property, landscaping is often regulated by local municipal planning board Committees. They may require street trees of a certain size at certain intervals, or screening of parking areas with low shrubs to block headlights, or shade trees scattered throughout the parking area. Additionally, some municipalities may require replacing large trees that are removed for construction with other smaller trees on-site. Again, civil engineers in conjunction with the landscape designer or architect should be able to help you address all of these needs. 

Another thing to consider in the area of landscaping is the desirability of creating some garden-like areas on the property. From a Biblical standpoint, gardens have played very important roles. (God placed His creation in the garden, Solomon created lavish gardens at the height of Israel’s strength, Jesus often prayed in a garden, including where He was found in Gethsemane.) Ornamental gardens create areas of beauty that encourage lingering and reflection; this can be enhanced with plaques containing scripture verses or words for meditation in various parts of the garden area. These areas will require more maintenance than the average landscaping, but it is a worthwhile consideration. At times, people within a congregation may be willing to make contributions for the installation or upkeep of gardens in memory of loved ones. 

One final note about landscaping: This is a reminder that digging holes for trees needs to be coordinated with the other aforementioned utilities. Many times coordination of this is overlooked resulting in those expensive and, at times, dangerous repairs. Most states have a program known as “One Call,” where a central number can be contacted which sends the notification to all utility companies that may have varying pipes or conduits on your property. They are typically required to come out within 48 hours of this notification to mark the location of the utilities on the ground in the area where work is being stipulated. This can help you avoid hitting the gas or electric lines when digging a hole for a tree.

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