I have a few jobs where I need to light up lights that are isolated (by grass or concrete) from the surrounding rock beds where the rest of the lights go. Grass What's the best way to run a line from the main rock beds to these isolated trees, 20-30 feet away? We have clay soil, so it comes out in chunks if you dig it up. I was thinking of hand-spading it in with a flat shovel, but then I started thinking that maybe an edger would work? I need to get them deep enough where they won't get hit by lawn aerator tines... Concrete I need to cross a few different sidewalks. With the clay soil, this isn't really easy as it don't wash for hoses to work well. Has anyone come up with a good method, or is there a clean way to utilize the expansion joints between the concrete where there's the expansion material between two separate concrete pours? Anyone have any tricks for either of these?
Hi DW, These are great questions Thanks. Digging trenches - a few ways to do it. The most cost-effective way is to use a flat-bladed spade - such as this product. You stomp on it and it digs in about 8 inches (6" is the minimum burial depth for landscape lighting wire). When the blade goes in 8", just rock the blade backward and forward to open a triangular trench - perfect for a single wire. After you insert the wire, use your feet to push the turf back from both sides to seal the hole. I don't know if this works with clay, but you can always remove a rectangle of clay and turf then put it back after the wire is in place. Some pros use trenching or edging tools to cut the trench, but that's a bit of an investment if you're only doing a few jobs. Concrete. Watch this video!!!
