Design Lighting to Accent Garden

Outdoor lights can dramatize your house and yard, letting you enjoy your garden or pool for longer periods during the day while increasing security.

You can set up a lighting design of your own by using one of the new low-voltage lighting kits that contain all the essentials--stake or mounted fixtures, transformer, cords and switches.

One maker of the kits, Toro, has advice for ways to get the most pleasing and professional-looking results:

First, draw a scale plan of your yard on graph paper, showing location of paths or walks, gardens, statuary and the house.

Note any architectural details you’d like to play up or utility areas you want to play down. Identify focal points and lines of sight you want to emphasize. Then note where you think fixtures will do the best highlighting.

Using the graph as a guide, set up the equipment and test it at night. Fine-tune the result by moving the fixtures until you’re satisfied with the mood and effect.

Lights can add depth to a shallow yard if you use brighter lights near the house and dimmer lights in the distance.

“Uplighting”--shining lights up into trees and bushes--is best for creating emphasis and mood.

“Downlighting,” while not as dramatic, serves double duty for functional lighting in access areas such as paths and drives.

Moonlighting--shining a light down from a fixture high in a tree--can diffuse light over a large area.

In most cases, cords need not be buried for safety, though for appearance you may want to conceal them in a shallow trench or cover them with gravel or wood chips. Cords should be buried under the turf where you may be mowing grass.

The company’s kits contain parts designed to snap together without tools, and you can begin with a starter kit and add more later. Fixtures come in durable plastics or redwood, with stakes to position them in the ground or mounts for trees and buildings.

The weatherproof low-voltage equipment is safe and economical and delivers both dim and bright lighting, Toro says.

Optional features include timers or photoelectric sensors to turn the systems on automatically, motion detectors, wired and wireless remote controls, and indoor security alarms.

Basic kits cost about $50; Toro estimates cost of an average installation at about $200.