This year's project is to install low-voltage lighting!
The plan is for 17 path lights, 5 spot lights around the pond, and 5 more uplights on the a couple trees. There will be 3 circuits; each controlled with X10 remote control stuff (timers, indoor switches, motion detectors, etc). The lights are from Malibu, which can be found at any home center. I chose metal over plastic as the plastic ones are more prone to breaking. I also avoided the solar lights because people report the batteries last about a year and then you gotta throw them away!
Anyway, the cost of everything was about $500, but my brother Tom gave me a bunch of surplus X10 stuff he had lying around.
So I have the lights installed where I want them... have to
wait until dark to be sure. I ran bundles of wires for each
of the 3 circuits and then trenched them into the ground.
One problem here... can you spot it? Back by the garden, I ran
the cable OVER the black plastic lawn edging rather than under it.
I had to make a choice; either rewire or or cut a slit in the
edging... the latter was much easier!
Oooooh... this is the entrance from the side yard. The pond
is around the corner to the right (you can't see it here).
You can see the path lights and some of the uplighting though.
Ahhhhh... here is a shot of the pond. We usually dont have
the path lights on. There are 2 spots directly in front of
the pond shining across and on the waterfall area. There
are also 3 spots behind, again pointed up toward the waterfall.
Note that, we didnt put any lights in the pond... I think that
would have just annoyed the fish.
Another shot from the side of the pond looking back toward
some of the landscape lighting. The lighting not only
extends the time during which we can enjoy the pond, it also
makes for some interesting shadows... you see things in a
different light, so to speak.
The frog caught on quick. It's getting dark, and the frog
learned that bugs are attracted to the lights... so when the
timer switches on the lights, it's dinner time!
Lilies are blooming now. The water has cleared (no chemicals,
by the way). Mother nature has taken over...
The "beach" stones in the forefront were replaced with stones that
more closely match the larger rocks. Up next, replacement of the
skimmer in the background... yep, I built a new one (pictures just
aren't developed yet)!
