How far apart should solar pathway lights go?

Every path we light starts the same way: at dusk, standing at the street, looking at the walk the way a guest will see it. The question is never how many lights fit — it is how few it takes before the path reads as one clear line.

Start with the pool of light

Switch one light on at night and pace out the circle it throws on the ground. Most of our filament path lights cast a pool 3 to 4 feet wide; the disc lights and taller driveway lights go wider. Space the stakes so the pools just touch for a continuous ribbon, or leave a foot of dark between them for a softer, dotted look.

• Filament lantern stakes: 5 to 6 feet apart, one side of the walk
• Metal pole 8-LED path lights: 6 to 7 feet apart
• Tall 2X-brighter driveway lights: 7 to 8 feet apart
• Both sides of a walk: stagger them, so the lights zig-zag rather than face each other

Count before you buy

Divide the length of the path by your spacing and add one. A 30-foot front walk at 6-foot spacing wants six lights on one side, or twelve on both. That arithmetic is why our Patio Series comes in 6, 8 and 12 packs.

Give every panel the sky

The panel is the fuel tank. A stake under the eaves or behind a shrub will charge at half speed and go dark early. If a spot is shaded, move that stake a foot toward the lawn — the path will not notice, the battery will.

Before judging brightness, give new lights one full sunny day switched on. The first night on a factory charge is always the dimmest night they will have.

Mind the mower and the snow shovel

Set stakes 6 to 10 inches back from the edge of the path. Close enough to light it, far enough that a wheel, a shovel or a trimmer line won't find them.