Path lights illuminate walkways and patios, and are usually placed at strategic locations. They are used to light entries and exits, gates, steps and at intersections of pathways. Up lights highlight vertical features such as trees, arbors, or house walls and also waterfalls, garden art, or other interesting aspects in the garden. Down lights are placed in branches of mature trees or on house walls to light patios or other dark garden areas.

A low voltage lighting system consists of a transformer with a timer, path lights, up lights and down lights, and lighting wire. The transformer converts 110v. house current to 220v. low voltage current. It is plugged into an electrical outlet and the built in timer is programmable to go on and off at designated times. Transformers are available in 300 watt, 600 watt, and 900 watt, and even larger, to accommodate the wattage of the lights being run.