Thanks for watching the video! If you want to learn more or need help, here are 3 options. 🔥FREE pdf download: The fundamentals of landscape lighting AND learn how you can make your lighting look professionally installed. course.aklighting.net/freepdfdownload ✅ Complete Start-to-Finish Course: Get affordable professional help so you can install your lights the right way. course.aklighting.net/diylandscapelightingstepbystepcourse 💻 Website: The One Stop for All DIY Landscape Lighting. diy.aklighting.net/homepage
wouldn't an edging shovel make it easier? Push in and wiggle to make the hole larger? Seems like it'd be straighter and you'd get a bit more length on the trench.
@@brywool Great thought! Out of the many shovels I have tried, I've never tried this, so I might go buy one to test it out and record a video. Honestly, I don't think it will work as well as you might think. The spade shovel I use is smaller, but not all dirt is easy to trench in. The smaller width helps reduce the amount of surface area I have to "deal with" when trending in tougher ground. Thanks again!
@@aklighting8292 Would be helpful if you posted the exact shovel you used here (like a model number). I see from the label it's an Ace Garden Spade, but I can't find it at the Ace website (yes, I know it's 4 years or more later).
I'm doing this for the first time now. Lessons learned: 1) I couldn't find your shovel but I found a transfer shovel (i.e. a typical garden spade) that was squared. It didn't work terribly well because I could not wiggle the dirt back and forth without it bending (my soil is pretty compacted). I replaced this with another one made out of thicker steel and fiberglass and it works well, 2) Even though I was digging 6"+ deep I could not get my cable to go deeper than 3". This is because as soon as I pulled the shovel, the dirt was falling back into the hole. Solution I've found--because my dirt is too dry--is to simply wet the trench. This has kept the sides of the hole damp so that it doesn't cave in. Also it makes pushing the cable into the hole (I'm using a thin piece of wood to do it, to avoid tearing on the cable) easier because the bottom of it is now muddy. Thanks for your videos!
If the lights are well away from the house, and planted around an electrical outlet, should I have the line located by a professional? Or is it safe to assume that the electrical line is buried at least a foot?
Huge project coming up and this not only allows the wire to be buried deep enough but does not destroy the lawn. Additionally, it deep enough to put tape so you can mark the wires so if you dig in area you know wires are buried in that location.
Depends. Most of the wire is in the flower beds and in the grass its 6-8 inches in the ground. Sometimes it's hard to get that deep due to the roots and ground. I'm also not sure how common aerating is everywhere. If a wire does get cut, it can easily be re-run or fixed.
@@aklighting8292 landscapers will run an edgers around the mulch beds at some point. They won’t know they hit the wire until night time. Good luck finding where they hit it.
@@aklighting8292 landscapers will run an edgers around the mulch beds at some point. They won’t know they hit the wire until night time. Good luck finding where they hit it.
@@justonbrazda3846 We try to burry the wires deep enough to avoid problems like this, however, you can't avoid every problem that might happen. Finding and repairing gets much easier once you learn how to find them.
Thanks for watching the video! If you want to learn more or need help, here are 3 options.
🔥FREE pdf download: The fundamentals of landscape lighting AND learn how you can make your lighting look professionally installed. course.aklighting.net/freepdfdownload
✅ Complete Start-to-Finish Course: Get affordable professional help so you can install your lights the right way. course.aklighting.net/diylandscapelightingstepbystepcourse
💻 Website: The One Stop for All DIY Landscape Lighting. diy.aklighting.net/homepage
wouldn't an edging shovel make it easier? Push in and wiggle to make the hole larger? Seems like it'd be straighter and you'd get a bit more length on the trench.
@@brywool Great thought! Out of the many shovels I have tried, I've never tried this, so I might go buy one to test it out and record a video. Honestly, I don't think it will work as well as you might think. The spade shovel I use is smaller, but not all dirt is easy to trench in. The smaller width helps reduce the amount of surface area I have to "deal with" when trending in tougher ground. Thanks again!
@@aklighting8292 Would be helpful if you posted the exact shovel you used here (like a model number). I see from the label it's an Ace Garden Spade, but I can't find it at the Ace website (yes, I know it's 4 years or more later).
I'm doing this for the first time now. Lessons learned: 1) I couldn't find your shovel but I found a transfer shovel (i.e. a typical garden spade) that was squared. It didn't work terribly well because I could not wiggle the dirt back and forth without it bending (my soil is pretty compacted). I replaced this with another one made out of thicker steel and fiberglass and it works well, 2) Even though I was digging 6"+ deep I could not get my cable to go deeper than 3". This is because as soon as I pulled the shovel, the dirt was falling back into the hole. Solution I've found--because my dirt is too dry--is to simply wet the trench. This has kept the sides of the hole damp so that it doesn't cave in. Also it makes pushing the cable into the hole (I'm using a thin piece of wood to do it, to avoid tearing on the cable) easier because the bottom of it is now muddy.
Thanks for your videos!
Yes, so a spade would be better to "dig in" to the soil. You can also get long handle trennch shovel which will help you to clear out the soil :)
Such a helpful tip on how to use the shovel the right way to make it easy!
Glad you think so!
VALUEABLE SKILL!! such a subtle little thing but im glad i watched this.
Thank you, glad it's helpful!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
Ok. Thk u for this. It was helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Great idea ty
If the lights are well away from the house, and planted around an electrical outlet, should I have the line located by a professional? Or is it safe to assume that the electrical line is buried at least a foot?
How do you trench in Texas with a shovel? I hit rock in the first inch? Any suggestions?
Which type of spade shovel is good to trench into hard soil?
If its too hard, I would water the ground and trench after the dirt is softened up.
I think I misread the title, people keep telling me to touch grass and I thought this would help me learn how
What about a cheap gas powered edger?
Point Shovel shoud work. Just more moves, correct?
It actually does not work well. I'll make a video soon showing the difference. You'll be putting in like 10x the effort and time.
@@aklighting8292 ..Thank you. I'll get a Spade Shovel.
Huge project coming up and this not only allows the wire to be buried deep enough but does not destroy the lawn. Additionally, it deep enough to put tape so you can mark the wires so if you dig in area you know wires are buried in that location.
Please use a trencher unless you like seeing wire
ha, that's all fine, until you, or the next owner, needs to aerate your yard.
Depends. Most of the wire is in the flower beds and in the grass its 6-8 inches in the ground. Sometimes it's hard to get that deep due to the roots and ground. I'm also not sure how common aerating is everywhere. If a wire does get cut, it can easily be re-run or fixed.
@@aklighting8292 landscapers will run an edgers around the mulch beds at some point. They won’t know they hit the wire until night time. Good luck finding where they hit it.
@@aklighting8292 landscapers will run an edgers around the mulch beds at some point. They won’t know they hit the wire until night time. Good luck finding where they hit it.
@@justonbrazda3846 We try to burry the wires deep enough to avoid problems like this, however, you can't avoid every problem that might happen. Finding and repairing gets much easier once you learn how to find them.