How to Install Loop System Landscape Lights

Set each landscape light on the ground in its desired location. An 8- to 10-foot space between lights generally looks the best. Lay a low-voltage cable on the ground along the lights. Start and end the cable by the transformer.

Dig a narrow, 3-inch-wide trench in the soil, using a shovel. Lay the low-voltage cable in the trench. Loop the cable up 1 inch to mark the location of a landscape light. Cover the cable with soil, but leave the loop exposed.

Strip off the plastic coating from the wire's two ends, using wire strippers. Pay attention to the wires' markings and color. Turn the transformer upside down and locate the two terminal screws. You must insert the same wire under each screw to make a circuit. Insert two cables under one terminal screw and the other two cables under the second terminal screw. Use a screwdriver to tighten the two screws.

Secure the transformer to either a wooden stake or the house, following the manufacturer's directions. The transformer must be near an electrical outlet. Once it's installed, plug the transformer into the outlet.

Locate the connector on the lights' bottom ends. Pull the connector apart and place one half on either side of the low-voltage cable's exposed loop. Push the two halves together until they click. The landscape light should light up. If it doesn't, disconnect the connector and try again. Continue attaching each light to the low-voltage cable.

Insert a large screwdriver into the ground to make a pilot hole for the light fixtures. Push the lights' stakes into the pilot holes. Fill dirt around the stakes so they stay in place.