Palm Landscape Lighting

[tinman10101]

I was wondering if any forum members could give advice on some landscape lighting for my yard.  I am not really interested in the solar led pathway lights but more accent under lit lights like you would see to showcase specimen palms.  I've just started researching but just want some input on latest tech and advancement.  Growing up in the 80s, I saw the usual bright halogen landscape lights at night in Miami which were so hot to the touch.  I am sure LED has replaced that now and wanted to see what our community members are doing.  Photos would be a plus.  Thank you in advance.

Cheers

Tin 

[Dartolution]

I use solar spotlights in the back, because it is south facing and receives more than enough sun to run them even in winter with upgraded batteries. While on the north side, I use LED ballads around the bed boarder. LED spotlights, or lighting is the way to go. They use very little energy and installing them is fairly simple if you have a basic understanding of electrical work and can follow instructions haha. Lots of options to choose from. Just make sure you properly burry the lines and route them in places you can conceal and know you won't shove a shovel through at some point in the future ()

[tinman10101]

  On 2/2/2022 at 5:17 PM, Dartolution said:

I use solar spotlights in the back, because it is south facing and receives more than enough sun to run them even in winter with upgraded batteries. While on the north side, I use LED ballads around the bed boarder. LED spotlights, or lighting is the way to go. They use very little energy and installing them is fairly simple if you have a basic understanding of electrical work and can follow instructions haha. Lots of options to choose from. Just make sure you properly burry the lines and route them in places you can conceal and know you won't shove a shovel through at some point in the future ()

Expand  

thanks so much for the input.  i was wondering what brand do you recommend if you don't mind.  i just want to purchase something that is of quality and not dead in a year or so.  

[KDubU]

The solar lights I have used are the following. I had them at our previous house and they are still working up there and got them again for our place in FL.

URPOWER Solar Lights Outdoor, Adjustable Solar Spot Lights Outdoor, 2-in-1 Waterproof Solar Landscape Spotlights Wall Light, Dusk-to-Dawn Solar Powered Outdoor Light for Garden, Yard, Pathway (2 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012ZO93R4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_2EKFBAGJY9W6D4EWC6VM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[tinman10101]

  On 2/2/2022 at 11:15 PM, KDubU said:

The solar lights I have used are the following. I had them at our previous house and they are still working up there and got them again for our place in FL.

URPOWER Solar Lights Outdoor, Adjustable Solar Spot Lights Outdoor, 2-in-1 Waterproof Solar Landscape Spotlights Wall Light, Dusk-to-Dawn Solar Powered Outdoor Light for Garden, Yard, Pathway (2 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012ZO93R4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_2EKFBAGJY9W6D4EWC6VM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

Expand  

thanks i'll check it out.  do they put out enough brightness to light up a specimen palm or just a small bush?  I was thinking about these but didnt want some mischievous kid just pulling it off the lawn and taking off with it.  

[KDubU]

They have two settings, low and high. I set them to high and they light up my large butia, mile and bamboo well. Of course solar will not provide as bright a light as a powered one but they are sufficient for me.

[redant]

I recently tried some good solar ones, IMO they still really suck compared to real lights.  Depending on your needs you will need cable, a transformer and lights. These lights are inexpensive and work great SUNVIE 12W Low Voltage LED Landscape Lights with Connectors, Outdoor 12V Super Warm White (900LM) Waterproof Garden Pathway Lights Wall Tree Flag Spotlights with Spike Stand (10 Pack with Connector) - - Amazon.com     Add up all the voltage you need, then add a bit extra for your transformer.  I have tones of lighting in my yard, LED's have really made it so much better and amazon so much cheaper then buying your lights at the big box stores.

[tinman10101]

  On 2/3/2022 at 1:56 PM, redant said:

I recently tried some good solar ones, IMO they still really suck compared to real lights.  Depending on your needs you will need cable, a transformer and lights. These lights are inexpensive and work great SUNVIE 12W Low Voltage LED Landscape Lights with Connectors, Outdoor 12V Super Warm White (900LM) Waterproof Garden Pathway Lights Wall Tree Flag Spotlights with Spike Stand (10 Pack with Connector) - - Amazon.com     Add up all the voltage you need, then add a bit extra for your transformer.  I have tones of lighting in my yard, LED's have really made it so much better and amazon so much cheaper then buying your lights at the big box stores.

Expand  

thanks for this suggestion.  they seemed really well made and with a transformer box it seems like pretty much plug and play.  i did see a video that says you only want to use up to 75% of capacity of the transformer box.  is that the rule you are following as well?

cheers

tin

[redant]

  On 2/3/2022 at 3:50 PM, tinman10101 said:

thanks for this suggestion.  they seemed really well made and with a transformer box it seems like pretty much plug and play.  i did see a video that says you only want to use up to 75% of capacity of the transformer box.  is that the rule you are following as well?

cheers

tin

Expand  

Yeah I always buy a bigger one then I need as I always end up adding lights. It's super easy to install and the lights are always bright, even on rainy days.

[zimm]

I went though this a while back.  I wanted high quality stuff but at a good deal.  Went with https://www.voltlighting.com/ which was an even better deal than my at-cost pricing from a lighting store I work with for the higher end path lighting/spotlights.  I've been extremely happy with their products.  Solid brass fixtures and as a tip, just buy the LEDs from them.  Lifetime warranty and if one goes out, just email them and they will ship out another.  I dropped one of the glass globes for one of my path lights and they sent me a free replacement as well.  They look amazing.  Note, before and after palmageddon, so the palms are not the same.  With the shorter replacements the lighting on the only pics I have handy are not as great but gives you an idea: 

[Matt in OC]

Agree with Zimm. Volt is the way to go. 

[waykoolplantz]

i use led lighting from Volt...great fixtures..great customer service

[Really full garden]

I use 10w LED flood lights.

[zimm]

@Really full garden Great idea on sharing wattages.  

For what it is worth from Volt I have:

China Hat 7" shade brass path lights w/3W 2700K LEDs (apparently now called "Flat Hat" - the P.C. police must have shown up)

All-Star Cast Brass Spotlights w/5W 2700K LEDs (15degree for the sabals and 60 degree for the med fan in the middle)

The spotlights on the shorter sabals really are not blown out as that looks - the first picture is a better representation.

 

[iDesign]

  On 2/13/2022 at 8:18 AM, waykoolplantz said:

i use led lighting from Volt...great fixtures..great customer service...

Expand  

Any idea what your Volt "package" looks like? I'm betting it has a lot of components.

I currently just have cheap solar spotlights for testing purposes (since I can move them around easily), but will be eventually replacing them with a more robust solution. Now looking at Volt due to the recommendations here.

[Allen]

 

Probably if you only have mature trunked specimens the direct wired ones are the way to go.  In my case I have over 40 solar lights and multiple plants to light that move and change throughout the year.  Even a palm as it grows needs the light moved because a frond will grow over it or the palm shifts a little, etc.   More commonly I have tropical plants grow up during the year  that block the light and I have to move it.  This is generally difficult with wired lights as the wire will be rooted into the ground.  My solar lights I just pull up and move.  I can also put solar lights in places wired ones can't go like inside pots or in dense rooted areas.  Solar lights on good sun will last 6+ hours and many of mine stay on all night in summer on low setting.  But if you don't have these problems wired is the way to go and wired are more aesthetically pleasing.   

Here were my lights a while back.  

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Allen

[zimm]

@iDesign The basics are you need a transformer, somewhere to plug it in, likely a timer of some sort (manual, or I use a Z-Wave switch that works with my home automation system), lighting cable (can be direct buried), fixtures, and waterproof wire nuts.  You can daisy chain multiple lights together off of a single run so adding lights is super easy.  If you expect many lights on one run or longer distances you might have a few "main feeder cables" going out into your yard.   We just did our back bed around our pool but intend to extend it to the front yard as well in the future.  I put it all in myself.  Would be glad to get into further details on how I did mine, how it works, or share exactly what I ordered if that would help.  Figure that there is some upfront cost for the wire/transformer but after that it's $60ish per light range for additions - but you are getting solid brass fixtures that should last forever, look amazing, and if a bulb ever goes out (they will), just email them and they'll mail out a replacement ASAP.  Volt is really helpful on the phone for equipment/design questions too.

[iDesign]

  On 2/13/2022 at 4:50 PM, Allen said:

Probably if you only have mature trunked specimens the direct wired ones are the way to go.  In my case I have over 40 solar lights and multiple plants to light that move and change throughout the year....

Expand  

Great points about the need to keep the lighting flexible, especially when they’re young. I’ll make sure we leave extra wiring near each light for later adjustments.

Can I ask what brand your solar lights are? I’m currently using Home Depot crappy lights, but it’s fine since I’m just testing with them. I might end up using solar lighting on my hill though, and would be great to have them look almost as nice as the wired areas. Plus the hill gets a lot of sunlight, so solar makes sense there.

[iDesign]

  On 2/13/2022 at 4:57 PM, zimm said:

@iDesign The basics are you need a transformer, somewhere to plug it in, likely a timer of some sort (manual, or I use a Z-Wave switch that works with my home automation system), lighting cable (can be direct buried), fixtures, and waterproof wire nuts.  You can daisy chain multiple lights together off of a single run so adding lights is super easy.  If you expect many lights on one run or longer distances you might have a few "main feeder cables" going out into your yard.   We just did our back bed around our pool but intend to extend it to the front yard as well in the future.  I put it all in myself.  Would be glad to get into further details on how I did mine, how it works, or share exactly what I ordered if that would help.  Figure that there is some upfront cost for the wire/transformer but after that it's $60ish per light range for additions - but you are getting solid brass fixtures that should last forever, look amazing, and if a bulb ever goes out (they will), just email them and they'll mail out a replacement ASAP.  Volt is really helpful on the phone for equipment/design questions too.

Expand  

Thanks for the additional details. We’re at least a year out from upgrading our lighting, but I thought I’d get some details while this thread is active.

Only other question is about the wires... My husband thinks they need to be put in a protective tube of some sort (to not deteriorate), with the tube buried under the dirt line. Is that the case? It would obviously be easer to just tuck the wires under the mulch. Sorry if a dumb question... I’m new to landscape lighting.

[Allen]

  On 2/13/2022 at 5:38 PM, iDesign said:

Thanks for the additional details. We’re at least a year out from upgrading our lighting, but I thought I’d get some details while this thread is active.

Only other question is about the wires... My husband thinks they need to be put in a protective tube of some sort (to not deteriorate), with the tube buried under the dirt line. Is that the case? It would obviously be easer to just tuck the wires under the mulch. Sorry if a dumb question... I’m new to landscape lighting.

Expand  

You can just bury the wire assuming we are talking the standard low voltage lights (Unless CA has some weird code or you want to make sure not to cut it).  Low voltage cable will last for a very long time, 20+ years.  It is best to bury a few inches.  I have led wired lights on my front landscape.  You only need conduit in the case of running regular high voltage wiring and in that case codes usually recommends a certain burial depth.  It will get rooted in and be very hard to move.  If you do cut a wire you can splice to fix.  If you put in conduit you wont have as much flexibility when burying.  It is best to bury plain wire (no conduit) close to house or walkway in place less likely to be dug up in the future.  I would dig a small trench and bury about 4 inches.   Burying in the dirt keeps the wire out of the elements which will increase lifespan. 

  On 2/13/2022 at 5:33 PM, iDesign said:

Great points about the need to keep the lighting flexible, especially when they’re young. I’ll make sure we leave extra wiring near each light for later adjustments.

Can I ask what brand your solar lights are? I’m currently using Home Depot crappy lights, but it’s fine since I’m just testing with them. I might end up using solar lighting on my hill though, and would be great to have them look almost as nice as the wired areas. Plus the hill gets a lot of sunlight, so solar makes sense there.

Expand  

These will last about 2-3 years but one will go out every now and then.  I use 'warm white' instead of bright white color temperature.  Doesn't hurt to get a few and experiment or even mix them with the wired ones.  One more point I'd like to make is these lights will power even in the shade.  Trust me I didn't believe that at first either. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L3KKLHY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Edited February 13, 2022 by Allen

[zimm]

  On 2/13/2022 at 5:38 PM, iDesign said:

Thanks for the additional details. We’re at least a year out from upgrading our lighting, but I thought I’d get some details while this thread is active.

Only other question is about the wires... My husband thinks they need to be put in a protective tube of some sort (to not deteriorate), with the tube buried under the dirt line. Is that the case? It would obviously be easer to just tuck the wires under the mulch. Sorry if a dumb question... I’m new to landscape lighting.

Expand  

I ran two separate conduit runs around our pool - one for our in-ground speakers and one for our lighting.  I figured anything worth doing is overdoing - plus we know chances were high we'd be adding in more plants/palms and figured that would save us from accidentally cutting a wire.  That said, I used 12/2 direct burial rated cable for the lighting and didn't really need to put it in conduit.  I could have just run it right under my weed block/decorative gravel and saved a ton of work trenching it out and pulling the cable through.  I replaced a speaker this summer and when I opened up the junction box under the speaker I found it was filled with water (made me kind of regret bothering to put in the conduit in the first place - although it was nice that the connectors were nice and clean, easy to work with rather than muddy).   Takeaway I guess is if you want to put in the work, it's nice but not necessary.  If you run the cable above ground but under weed block/mulch/rock where it wont be exposed to the sun, you'll probably have the best of both worlds where you can easily locate the cable and not cut it while digging and also save a ton of work.  My conduit goes to each light spot and I put in a T fitting where i have the wire coming out and going up to the surface.  I make the connection at the surface and have another wire going back down to the T and out to the next spot.  Figured it would make it easy to add in lights in the future or move them.   I DO recommend conduit from your transformer box down to the ground though for a clean install and avoiding catching/pulling cables or hitting them with a weed whacker, etc.  

[Reeverse]

  On 2/3/2022 at 1:56 PM, redant said:

I recently tried some good solar ones, IMO they still really suck compared to real lights.  Depending on your needs you will need cable, a transformer and lights. These lights are inexpensive and work great SUNVIE 12W Low Voltage LED Landscape Lights with Connectors, Outdoor 12V Super Warm White (900LM) Waterproof Garden Pathway Lights Wall Tree Flag Spotlights with Spike Stand (10 Pack with Connector) - - Amazon.com     Add up all the voltage you need, then add a bit extra for your transformer.  I have tones of lighting in my yard, LED's have really made it so much better and amazon so much cheaper then buying your lights at the big box stores.

Expand  

I have the same Sunvie LED lights from Amazon. They are great. You can’t beat these for the money and brightness. I swapped out 20w halogen Malibu lights for the Sunvie. 

[iDesign]

Here's a photo my best lit area so far...

The waterfall lights are Aquascape LEDs, and the "hut" lighting is some colored LEDs my husband picked up on clearance at Home Depot. I gave him a hard time about them originally, and now kinda wish I had more 

Rhopie at top of the hill & Caryota at bottom are currently lit with cheap solar lights. Nothing else on the hill is highlighted yet because I haven't finished the rest of the hill yet. Getting close though! (hoping to have the rest of the hill plants in place before Fall).

Rest of the yard is currently just random Home Depot solar lights (as placeholders)... this is by far the most developed spot lighting-wise.

Thanks again for all of the advice!

[Mohsen]

[potchiasti]

I've been having an excellent time with my simple landscape lighting system that consists of only a few pathway lighting, accentuated by some directional lighting on the side and deck step lights to top my small garden with a nice outdoor look at night. I've got all the products I use from Best Pro Lighting. worth checking out for those looking for affordable yet elegant looking fixtures for outdoor landscape lighting.

[96720]

These fixtures are all made with cast aluminum I don’t know about other areas but aluminum does not hold up in our area I only use brass or bronze fixtures