Install garden lights and conceal cables

ettman8

This project was to install some garden lights to be able to see the perimeter of the garden at night.

Part of the post covers what I did to run the low voltage cabling across a path and hide away all of the cabling as best I can.

Materials

• Pope 150mm Round Valve Box
• Conduit
• Screw in tent pegs
• DIY Smart garden lights
• Light Extension Cables
• Extra lights
• Cable clips

Tools

• Hand Trowel
• Impact Driver
• Hammer

Steps

Step 1

Planning

• Power source:  
  We had an external powersource attached to the side of the house however we had to add extra extension cables to reach the back fence
• Wifi: We were installing a smart unit so it important that it was in Wifi range to be able to control it
• Cable management: We had to run a long length from the plug to the back fence but also cross a path so we had to conceal the low voltage cable underground somehow
• Protecting things from the elements: We also wanted to conceal the control unit and not have it exposed to the elements.

Step 2

Conceal the controller

• We used valve box to house the controller
• We dug out a 15 cm hole and put the valve box in the ground

 

Step 3

Run the cable across the path

First off be aware this is only approriate for low voltage cabling, do not bury regular power extension cords.

• We thread the low voltage cable through the conduit
• Excevated a shallow trench in the decorative rocks we have
• Used screw in tent pegs to secure the conduit to the ground (We found that if we didnt secure it to the ground it kept surfacing through the rocks)

Step 4

Run the cable along the fence

To ensure we dont ever sever the cable during gardenining we opted to run the cable along the fence and secured it using these cable clips

Step 5

Install the lights and enjoy

• We then closed the trench with rocks again
• Planted all of the lights along the perimeter
• Enjoy the end results

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @ettman8. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for sharing your wonderful project.

Congratulations on the successful installation of your garden lights! You've done a great job of illuminating the garden and it's created quite the nighttime ambience. Wonderful work concealing those cables certainly beats laying them along the surface. 

Well done and many thanks for sharing.

Mitchell