Puddy's House

Create. Inspire. Enjoy.

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Our House
  • Contact
  • Project Gallery
  • Privacy/Disclosures
You are here: Home / DIY / DIY Landscape Lights

DIY Landscape Lights

April 29, 2013 By: Leslie6 Comments

DIY Landscape Light - After - light at night

We had a full landscape plan created by our landscaper (who happens to be my brother-in-law) shortly after we bought our house.   The plan includes everything from all the trees, shrubbery, perennials, as well as the patio, seat wall, and lighting.  The plan has been implemented in phases, some of which was done by our landscaper, and some was done by Bob and I.   Over the last two weekends, Bob and I implemented one of the final phases by installing additional landscape lighting to uplight three of our trees.  I honestly didn’t think this phase would be a DIY project, but Bob had done some online research that made us consider it.  We went to Lowe’s and bought the lights, cable connectors and wire.

DIY Landscape Lights - Light and cable connector in package

We needed 3 cable-to-cable connectors, 3 lights, and 100′ of 12 gauge wire.  The process was easier for us because we already have the transformer and main wire installed.  Our transformer is in our basement, and it is 600 watts, so we had plenty of capacity.  Before we started this project, we unplugged the transformer from the wall, just to ensure we didn’t zap ourselves.

DIY Landscape Lights - Transformer

This is just the inside of the transformer, while its unplugged, showing no lights are on.  The transformer allows us to have the lights on a timer to automatically turn on and off.

DIY Landscape Lights - Inside Transformer

Once the power was off, we determined where we were going to connect to the main wire that was already running outside behind our patio seat wall.  The cable-to-cable connector had easy instructions enclosed.

Step 1 – Connect the top to the existing cable wire.

Cable Connector Top

Cable Connector Top on Wire

Step 2 – Connect the bottom to the new wire.

Cable connector middle in place

Cable Connector Bottom on Wire

Step 3 – Place the middle piece on top of the bottom wire.

Cable connector placing middle

Step 4 – Connect the top to the bottom and middle.

Cable connector - connecting top to bottome and middle

Cable Connector in place

To be extra safe, Bob and I wrapped electrical tape around the whole connector piece.  It’s probably not necessary, but it made us feel better before we buried it in the dirt.

After the new wire was connected and buried, we buried the wire along the patio wall and side of the house to run it to the tree in the front.  This was the most tedious and time consuming part.  I wanted to make sure the wire was sufficiently underground, and I also didn’t want to mess up our fresh mulching we did the weekend before.

DIY Landscape Lights - Leslie placing wire

DIY Landscape Lights - burying cable

Puddy was helping supervise.

DIY Landscape Lights - Puddy in yard

Once we got the wire to the front of the house, we took it from the corner of the house directly out to the tree.

DIY Landscape Lights - Cable by tree ready for light

DIY Landscape Lights - Puddy with light

Then, we needed to connect the wire to the fixture.  This was just a few steps.  Insert the wire into the bottom, put the middle connector piece on top of the bottom.

DIY Landscape Light - Connecting cable to light fixture

And, then finish by screwing the top piece in place.  After we had it tightly together, we wrapped it in electrical tape.  Again, this was just for our piece of mind, not necessary according to the instructions.

DIY Landscape Light - Cable to light connector

Then, we just placed the light in the ground and buried all the connecting wire.  I plugged the transformer back in, changed the time and tested the light, and we had success.

DIY Landscape Light - Light in place below tree

It has much more effect at night.

DIY Landscape Lights - Tree close up at night

Overall, it was a relatively simple process.  I’m so glad that we decided to add the tree uplights.   We added the other two lights to each of our crape myrtles that surround our patio.

DIY Landscape Lights - crape myrtle at night

DIY Landscape Lights - crape myrtle 2 at night

Has anyone else added landscape lighting?  Anyone with solar lights?  We were considering solar, but the Lowe’s salesperson convinced us it wasn’t the way to go, especially since we already had the transformer in place.  I think we made the right decision.  We actually put in the crape myrtle lights first, and we were so happy with them that we bought an additional light for the tree in the front.  Plus, it helped us use the 100′ of wire we bought.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Comments

  1. 1

    Yvonne @ StoneGable says

    April 30, 2013 at 8:54 pm

    Hi Leslie, I’m thrilled to find another Lancasterian! Your home is beautiful and I love the way you lit it. This gives me a lot to think about! We have a couple of trees that would look great lit at night.
    So nice to meet you!

    Reply
    • 2

      Leslie says

      April 30, 2013 at 8:56 pm

      Yvonne,
      Thanks so much! Great to connect with you, and will be great to meet at Haven. It’s nice to find someone else from the Lancaster area.

      Leslie

      Reply
  2. 3

    Heather says

    April 24, 2014 at 2:17 pm

    Looks great,love those lights.Your landscape is just beautiful. I’m always looking for ideas for my home. Would you share what plants you have in your landscape? Thanks Heather

    Reply
    • 4

      Leslie says

      April 24, 2014 at 8:33 pm

      Thanks Heather! We have many plants….any particular one you are interested in?

      Reply
      • 5

        Heather says

        April 24, 2014 at 8:57 pm

        Thank you Leslie for getting back with me. I really like the little tree on the corner of your home. I have boxwoods and its kinda boring.I was thinking a colorful shrub or little tree on the corner of my home and a curved landscape. Any advice you could give me would be great. Thanks Heather

        Reply
        • 6

          Leslie says

          April 24, 2014 at 9:28 pm

          The tree on the corner is a Persian Parrotia. The yellow shrubs behind the tree are golden cypress. Hope that helps!!

          Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Subscribe to Puddy's House

Enter your email address to subscribe and receive new posts by email.

Leslie

Leslie

Hello! I'm Leslie Wireback and the owner and creator of Puddy's House. Puddy is our cute little dog. I love to yard sale and thrift shop, paint just about anything, use my creative energy on projects, all while trying to enjoy life.

View Full Profile →

Archives

Recent Posts on Puddy’s House

  • DIY Repurposed Side Table
  • Christmas Candlelight Home Tour
  • Noel Burlap Wall-Hanging
  • DIY Fall Wreath
  • Fabric Stool

Categories

Looking for something?

Connect with Puddy’s House

facebookpinterestinstagramtwitter birdemailgoogle+bloglovinsubscribe

Categories

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Blogger Pro Theme By, Pretty Darn Cute Design

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.