Your garden does its best work in daylight. Then the sun goes down and the whole thing disappears — the bed you weeded all weekend, the corner you planted out in spring, gone until morning. Most garden ornaments do nothing about that. They sit there in the dark being a shape. This one pours light. A metal watering can tips forward on its hook and thirty-six tiny lights spill from the spout in six strands, so it reads as water falling into the garden bed below, and the cut-out pattern in the can throws a lace shadow across the lawn around it. It runs on sun, so there is no cable, no switch and nothing to turn on.

Why It Stands Out

• The water is the whole trick — six strands of fairy lights hang from the spout and catch the eye as a pour, which is what makes people stop at the fence and ask where you got it.
• The can glows as well as the stream — the pattern is cut right through the metal, so the body lights up and prints that pattern onto the grass and the mulch around it.
• It stands 80 cm tall — high enough to read from the kitchen window over the top of a planted bed, rather than vanishing into the foliage the way low solar lights do.
• Nothing to plug in — the panel sits in the lid of the can and charges all day, so these decorative solar lights go anywhere in the yard, however far from the house.
• It knows when to come on — the sensor reads the fading light and starts the display by itself each evening, then shuts off at sunrise.
• Two looks in one piece — warm white for a soft, candlelit pour, or the colour version for something brighter and more playful through the garden.
• It survives being a gift — a gardener who already owns every tool does not own this, which is what makes it one of the rare garden gifts that is not another trowel.

Where to Put It

• Over a garden bed — the position it was designed for. Angle the spout so the strands fall toward the planting and the light lands on the flowers instead of bare soil.
• In the middle of the lawn or a garden corner — out in the open the cut-out pattern has room to throw, and this is where it works hardest as garden art rather than just a light.
• Beside the veggie patch or the herb bed — a bit of height and glow over the practical end of the yard, which is usually the part that gets no decoration at all.
• Either side of a garden path — as solar garden ornaments go, a matched pair flanking the way to the door does more for an entrance than a row of plain stake lights.
• Against a fence or a hedge — a dark green or paling background is what makes the pour read clearly, because there is nothing competing behind it.
• In a large pot on the patio — the stake pushes into potting mix, so it works on a deck or a balcony where there is no soil to get into.
• Beside the outdoor table — close enough to the entertaining area that it lights the edge of the evening without putting glare on anyone's face.

How It Works

1. The panel in the lid charges the battery — a day of sun feeds the AA 600 mAh rechargeable cell inside the can. Full charge takes upwards of eight hours of good light.
2. A sensor watches for dusk — as the light drops the panel stops generating, the sensor reads it, and the display starts on its own.
3. Thirty-six LEDs light the six strands — strung down from the spout, they draw the eye along the fall and read as a pour of water from a distance.
4. It runs four to ten hours — the length of the night depends on the day behind it, so a long sunny day buys a long evening.

How to Set It Up

1. Screw the two pole sections together — they thread into one another, then the curved hook goes on top. No tools.
2. Push the stake into the ground — the two-prong base goes into lawn, garden soil, mulch or potting mix. Straight down and rock it in, so the hook stays vertical.
3. Switch the can on before you hang it — the on/off switch sits next to the panel in the lid, and it has to be on for the sensor to do anything.
4. Hang the can and set the tilt — hook it on and turn it until the spout points where you want the light to fall. The handle lets you swing the angle without lifting it off.
5. Lay the strands out by hand — spread the six strands apart rather than letting them hang as one rope. Separated, they read as water; bunched, they read as a cable.
Tip: give it a full day in the sun before the first night. A battery charged from flat on day one puts on a far better show than one that went straight into the garden at four in the afternoon.

Care and Maintenance

• Wipe the panel in the lid every few weeks. Dust, pollen and sprinkler spray build a film that cuts the charge long before you notice the lights running short. A damp cloth does it.
• Keep the sprinklers off the metal. It is iron under the finish, so a spot that gets a daily soaking from the irrigation holds its colour less well than one that only sees rain. Set it just outside the spray line.
• Check the pole joint each season. The threaded sections work loose over months of wind. A twist by hand is the whole job.
• Switch it off if it goes into the shed. Leaving it on in the dark runs the cell flat and holds it there, which is harder on a battery than nightly use.

Specifications

What's Included

• 1 × Solar watering can light
• 1 × Shepherd's hook with ground stake