Solar Lights for Outdoor Staircases on Slopes: Multi-Level Yard Lighting
Stairs on a slope are the most dangerous feature in any yard after dark. A flat path in the dark…
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Lawn Alternatives: Clover, Moss, and Ground Covers
Most lawns are a fight against the place you live. You plant grass that wants cool, wet weather, then spend…
Solar Lights for Boat Houses and Lakeside Structures: Marine-Grade Illumination
The boathouse on my lake has eaten more solar lights than every other project I have ever worked on combined.…
Outdoor Weatherproof TV Installation Guide
I mounted my first outdoor TV seven years ago. It was a standard indoor model that I put in a…
Starting Seeds Indoors: Timing and Equipment
The first year I started seeds indoors, I grew them on a sunny windowsill and every one of them was…
Solar Lights for Dog Parks and Off-Leash Areas: Night Exercise Illumination
I got involved with dog park lighting through a community group that was trying to extend the usable hours of…
Drought-Tolerant Landscaping for Water Conservation
The first summer I tried to cut back on watering, I killed a third of my yard. Not on purpose.…
Solar Lighting for Farmhouse and Rustic Exteriors
Farmhouse and rustic exteriors have a specific lighting vocabulary. The fixtures reference a pre-electric era, when light came from candles…
Solar Lights for Garden Gates and Entry Arches: Welcoming Visitors Off-Grid
A garden gate is the handshake of your landscape. It is the first thing a visitor touches and the last…
Solar Lighting for Mediterranean Patios
I have spent more than a decade lighting outdoor spaces in the American Southwest, and the Mediterranean patio is the…
Solar Lighting for Tropical Garden Designs: Bamboo, Heliconia, and Warm Tones
A tropical garden at night should feel like a different world. During the day, the bold foliage, the bright flowers,…
Solar Lighting for Coastal and Beach Style Yards: Weatherproof and Nautical
A beach house yard is a different kind of landscape. The soil is sand, the air is salt, the wind…
How to Splice and Extend Solar Light Cables
Every solar light with a remote panel has a cable connecting the panel to the fixture. The cable is a…
Solar Lighting for Southwest Adobe and Terracotta Landscapes
The desert Southwest has a quality of light that exists nowhere else. The air is dry and thin, the sky…
Solar Lighting for Pacific Northwest Woodland Gardens: Moss, Ferns, and Low Light
I spent four years fighting solar lights in a wooded lot outside Olympia before I figured out what actually works…
