Green Up Your Garden With Solar-Powered Lights
Published 04.20.2009
News
Landscape/Plant Production
School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies News
This week's Green Tip, provided by Penn College's Horticulture Club, is about inexpensive and maintenance-free lighting for your garden. Solar garden lights are easy to install and can provide six to 12 hours of lighting each night. When installing solar lights, simply place them in the ground wherever you want them. There's no need to dig small electric-line trenches, as with traditional garden lights, because there are no electric cords. They are easy to move from place to place, according to your needs. The only drawback to solar garden lights is that the attached solar cell needs to receive a lot of sunlight during daytime hours. If you're attempting to light a shady area using the convenience of solar lights, they may not work. Solar lights are economical andrequire no routine maintenance after installation; replacement batteries are the only thing they may need. Solar lighting is the wave of the future and would be a great way for your garden to "go green!" The weekly Green Tip is a cooperative venture of the Energy Conservation Subcommittee (part of Penn College's Governance system) and the School of Natural Resources Management's Horticulture Department. Contacts for the feature are Gail B. Landers, group leader at the Children's Learning Center and a subcommittee member, and Carl J. Bower Jr., horticulture instructor.