You work hard to keep your home, garden, and lawn looking beautiful. So you shouldn’t be shy about showing it off, even after sunset! Landscaping spotlights highlight your favorite features. You can aim them at trees, bushes, or sections of your garden that you would like the world – or at least the neighbors – to notice!
Why Use Landscaping Spotlights
Landscaping spotlights let you provide light from the ground up, illuminating your plants or other features from ground level. They usually provide a softer light than overhead spotlights, which are more designed for security. That allows all the subtlety of shapes and colors to stand out!
Of course, you may find more seasonal uses for landscape spotlights, too. They are great to show off holiday decorations for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, or in any season!
Landscaping spotlights are distinct from path lights. The latter point down and their purpose is to help you see where you’re going. Spotlights, though, point up and focus on your landscaping features. The overflow lighting may help you maneuver along paths or around the yard, but that’s not their primary purpose.
We mentioned security, and that’s definitely not the primary purpose of landscaping spotlights. However, it’s a great secondary effect! The extra light can help discourage prowlers, especially since you’ll likely be aiming the lights at spots where they’d be likely to hide
Things To Keep In Mind
As with any equipment for your lawn and garden, there are a few things to keep in mind when making your choice.
Power
To get your lights to work, you’ll need power, of course! Most landscaping spotlights we’re familiar with require an electric line. They are low-voltage but require more power than path lights, which are commonly solar-powered. There are a few solar options available for spotlights, too, though.
That means you’ll have to run electric lines to the places you want your spotlights. Remember, extension cords are not designed for long-term use! Your best choice is to bury a permanent line from your house to the light.
Lighting Capacity
You’ll also want to think about how much light you want to shine on your yard, and for how long.
Different models offer varying wattage. They may also spread the light across a different angle. So if you want to highlight a wide area, you may want to consider different options than if you are lighting up a narrow space (like a Christmas tree, for instance).
Availability of Replacement Bulbs
The LED bulbs used in all modern spotlights should last a long time. However, a moment will arrive when you need to replace them.
When choosing your lights, do a quick search to make sure replacement bulbs are available – and not ridiculously expensive. In most cases, we’ve found that you’ll be fine in this regard. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry, and a spotlight with no working bulbs is just junk!
Our Recommendations for Landscaping Spotlights
Let’s shed some light on the best options you have when choosing spotlights for your lawn and garden!
MarsLG ALS1 Aluminum Low Voltage Landscape Directional Spot Up Light
This set of six lights allows you to light up a lot of spots, or maybe provide different angles to one spot! The price isn’t bad,either, and works out to less per light than other packages.
These can use LED bulbs up to 35W, which is a pretty significant amount of light. They don’t use a lot of electricity, as you can tell from the 18-gauge wire they come with. They run off 12 volt current.
These are made of aluminum and come in black.The included lights are 5W. The included wiring measures 36 inches.
The warranty is two years on the fixture and a year on the bulbs.
GKOLED Solid Brass Landscape Spotlight
This stylish spotlight has a brass fixture. It comes as a single piece, but is also available in a 10-pack with a discount (at least as of this writing).
Like most products of this type, the finish is black – great to avoid distraction at night.
It has a 36-inch wire lead using 18-gauge wire.
From the ground to the highest point of the fixture, it measures 8.46 inches, not including the spike.
It uses MR16 bulbs; the included one is 5W.
The fixture has a limited lifetime warranty and there is a two-year warranty on the bulb.
HNES 4 Pack Super Bright Solar Spot Lights
These are the only solar-powered spotlights on our list, but they definitely deserve a “spot” here! The 4 lights in this pack each have 47 LEDs, offering a bright light up to 9.4 Watts! And you can adjust them across a 300° range, to get the light to shine just where you want it.
Perhaps more impressive is that these can last 15 hours on the low settings and 8 on high.
The package includes ground stakes, but there are also nails so that you can mount them on a wall to light up the area. These would be great if you have a business and want to show off your name painted on the side wall – or even just to provide additional security.
It takes about 8 hours to fully charge these. 4 AA rechargeable batteries that charge off the solar cells are included.
There is an 18-month repair/replacement warranty on these.
hykolity 4 Pack Low Voltage LED Landscape Wall Wash Light
This set of 4 wired lights has a unique design but do just as great a job at lighting up your shrubs and decorations.
Made of aluminum, they’ll hold up in the face of the elements as they give off 7.4 Watts of lights across over a 100° spread.
The only difficulty we see with these is the relatively short wire lead. Just under 15 inches is included, less than half the length that comes with other models. Sure, that’s easy enough to overcome by using more of your own wire – but it still means you need to use more of your own.
The light fixture itself is 5.3 inches across. It can be adjusted up and down 130°.
The enclosure for the bulb is cast aluminum.
These run on 12V AC current and a transformer is included.
A 10-year warranty covers these.
VOLT Fat Boy 12V Brass Outdoor Spotlight
This brass spotlight keeps its normal brass color, providing an elegant look for your lawn! And the included 5W light helps make the whole yard look just as great!
Like other lights in our list, this one runs on 12V. It includes 4 feet of 16 gauge wire.
The light fixture can pivot almost 180°.
The fixture itself sets close to the ground, but it includes a 10-inch ground spike for stability.
They’re covered by a lifetime warranty.
Conclusion
Landscaping spotlights are a great way to add to the beauty of your lawn and garden even when it’s dark outside. They also provide a security benefit. Don’t be afraid to show off all you’ve achieved through your hard work – shine a light on it!
