Garden and pathway lighting does two jobs at once: it keeps feet on the path and it shows off the planting you worked on all season. This edit covers the lights that live in beds, borders and walkways, including solar path and disk lights, spotlights for trees and shrubs, inground and well lights, bollards, pillar and post cap lights, fence lights, step lights and outdoor LED strips. There are playful pieces too, like solar garden lanterns, a color changing wind chime and metal butterfly wall art.

Spacing and Placement That Look Natural

• Stagger path lights: Place them 6 to 10 feet apart and alternate sides of the walk instead of lining both edges like a runway. Pools of light that just touch look calmer than a continuous strip.
• Set them back from the edge: Keep path lights a few inches off the walk so they are not kicked or clipped by a mower, and choose shaded or downward heads to keep glare out of eyes.
• Uplight one or two features: A spotlight at the base of a tree or a well light under an arching shrub adds depth. Light one focal point well rather than every plant a little.
• Mark edges and entrances: Bollards, post cap lights and pillar lights define a driveway edge, a gate or the corners of a bed.

Solar or Wired

Solar stakes are the fastest way to light a path, with no trenching at all, but they need open sky and fade after short winter days. Wired fixtures such as inground and well lights take more effort up front and give steady output on a switch or timer. Many gardens use both: wired lights near the house and solar in the far beds. Whatever you choose, check the listing's weather details against life at ground level, where sprinklers and puddles are routine. Keep one light color throughout so the garden reads as one scene.

Start with path lights or outdoor spotlights, and see our path light spacing guide before you set out the first stake.