Before diving into the technical aspects or placing your order, take a moment to walk through your garden and imagine how you want the lights to transform the space. Consider the key pathways, entry points, and focal areas where lighting can enhance the experience. Think about how the lights will look at night and how they will interact with the plants, trees, and other garden features. This is your chance to design something magical, so let your creativity flow.

Next, sketch out a rough layout of your garden on paper or use a garden planning app. When planning the layout, don’t forget to factor in practical considerations. You'll need to think about power sources and wiring—where will the lights connect to electricity? If you're using a beefy 10a power supply you can run up to around 16-20 feet of track before needing to inject more power. If you want a longer run, you can power from both ends or from the middle of the track. 

Syncing vs Wired Connections

WLED will sync multiple controllers over WiFi. You can sync the left and right sides of your path together so you don't need to run a wire between the two, or sync multiple areas that aren't necessarily connected. 

Each separate area will need its own power supply and micrcocontroller, so take that into account when you're planning and ordering. The Feather with w.FL connector will allow a much greater range than a QT Py Pico. I had a lot of trouble getting the QT Py boards to sync reliably over distances of 20+ feet. The Feather is a better choice for larger areas.

I am planning to install these tracks in a variety of different locations and wanted to make them easy to move and shape, so I made 16 separate 4-foot tracks, each with its own microcontroller connector and power connector, and I have lots of microcontrollers I can use for different areas. This gives me so many options for setup. They can go indoors or outdoors, and become stage lights or window lights when they aren't lighting up my garden path.

However, the syncing isn't bullet-proof. If this is a professional installation and it HAS to be in sync, consider using a wired connection instead.