Wrapping a tree in string lights takes an hour on a ladder, branch by branch, and it never looks even. Then you take it down in January and it goes back in the box as one knot. A net does the same job in a single movement — you throw it over the hedge, the shrub or the standard, pull the corners square, and the decorating is done. These run on solar, so there's no lead across the lawn and nothing competing for the one outdoor power point.

Why They Stand Out

• It goes on in one go — over a shrub, a hedge, a bush or a small tree, square it up, done. That's the whole reason net lights exist.
• Solar, so it goes anywhere in the garden — the panel pushes into the ground on a spike and the net goes up wherever you want it, not wherever the power point is.
• 192 LEDs on the 3 × 2 m, 96 on the 1.5 × 1.5 m — dense enough that the net reads as a sheet of light rather than scattered dots.
• Eight modes with a remote — steady, fade, flash and the rest, changed from the back step rather than by crawling behind a bush to a switch.
• A built-in timer so it comes on and goes off on its own each night.
• Two nets link together through the DC joint, so a long hedge runs off one chain instead of two separate setups.
• Warm white or cool white — warm for a hedge and a verandah, cool for a sharper, frostier look against dark foliage.

Where to Hang It

• Over a hedge or a row of shrubs along the front fence — the job it does best, and the one a string light does badly.
• Over a small tree or a standard in the lawn, where the net follows the canopy instead of being wound round branch by branch.
• Across a garden bed of low shrubs, turning a dark corner of the yard into the part people look at.
• Along the garden fence line behind the planting, so the whole bed is lit from the back rather than spotlit from the front.
• Over an arch, arbour or trellis, following the shape of whatever is climbing it.
• Down from the pergola or verandah edge, hanging as a curtain over the outdoor setting.
• Across the gazebo, with two nets joined through the DC link for the full span.

How They Work

1. The panel spikes into the ground and charges through the day, storing it in the built-in lithium battery.
2. The LEDs sit at every crossing of the net, so the light spreads evenly across the whole sheet rather than running along one line.
3. The remote changes the mode and sets the timer, and the setting holds night after night.
4. The DC joint on the tail links a second net, so two run as one across a longer hedge or a wider structure.

How to Set It Up

1. Place the panel first, not the net. It needs open sky for most of the day — that one decision sets how long the lights run at night.
2. Charge it in the sun for a full day before you judge it. It arrives flat, and the first night on a flat battery tells you nothing.
3. Throw the net over and square the corners before you tie anything. Net lights look wrong when they sag diagonally and right when the grid is straight.
4. Tie the four corners and the mid-points with garden ties — not just the corners, or the wind will bag it out.
5. Set the mode and the timer from the remote once it's up, standing where you'll actually be looking at it from.
Tip: hang it, then walk out to the footpath after dark before you tie anything off permanently. A net that looks even from a metre away looks lopsided from the street, and the street is where it's seen from. Two minutes of adjusting beats looking at it crooked until January.

NB: everything about a solar light comes down to where the panel sits — open sky, not under the eave and not in the shade of the shrub you've just lit, and the run time looks after itself. An Australian December gives you long charging days and late sunsets, so expect it to come on around nine rather than six. Squaring the net up when you hang it is the difference between a sheet of light and a tangle.

Care and Maintenance

• Wipe the panel every few weeks. Dust and pollen on the glass is the usual reason a solar light dims, not a fault.
• Fold it back along the net lines when it comes down, rather than bundling it. A bundled net is next year's hour of untangling.
• Store it charged and dry — a lithium battery left flat for eleven months is a dead one.
• Check the garden ties each season and replace any that have gone brittle in the sun.

Specifications

What's Included

• 1 × Solar LED net light with panel and remote