Tips for Buying Solar Lights for a Garden

Know Your Needs

• Solar landscaping lights can generally get divided into two major categories: accent lights and those created specifically for more utilitarian illumination. The former typically has just one bulb and may include aesthetic features like a subtle flickering that mimics the glow of a candle. That's perfect for softly brightening your garden, but you'll want brighter illumination if you need to safely light up paths and stairs. For such purposes, get a garden solar light that has a minimum of two bulbs.

Match the Design

• Solar lights come in various designs related to their housing. For example, it may be encased in metal, colorful plastic or even wood or woven reeds. Match the garden light's design to the overall feel of your garden. For example, a cottage-style herb garden may look best with a solar light made of natural materials, such as wood, while a more contemporary, modern rock garden may look nice with brushed metal lights.

Measure Your heights

• Garden solar lights come in a dizzying array of heights. Some are short and stubby while others hang from towering rods. The height you need will vary depending on the height of your plants and you should complement each other. You don't want your solar lights lost in the undergrowth of your surrounding plants for two reasons: you don't want the plants to block the solar light's bulbs and you also don't want the plants to block the sun's rays from reaching your light's solar panel.

Calculate Your Needs

• For accent lighting, you'll generally want enough lights to highlight the plants or areas to which you want to draw attention.For safety use, such as along a path, you'll need enough lights so that their emitted light overlaps each other. Many solar lights tell you their broadcast range. Divide the total length of walkways that you need to illuminate by the range of the lights to get a rough estimate of how many solar lights you'll need.

Pick a Light Direction

• Some solar lights broadcast their light downward. Others broadcast the light upward. The former works well in most situations. However, if you have very tall plants or trees, or an interesting wall feature or mural, an upward-shining solar light can help create vertical visual interest in your garden.