A permanently mounted fixture must be hard-wired.

I was afraid of that. That presents difficulties since I would have to have someone (a professional...not my area of expertise, real or imagined) wire it to the outlet in the garden, but in such a way as to be able to (a) turn the light on and off with a switch near the house, and yet (b) still allow me to independently turn off the fountain (plugged into one of the switchable sockets in the garden outlet) from a different switch near the house. I guess something like that must be possible. But it certainly takes the "Y" out of my "DIY."

One question I have: I have two fountains...both with UL approval etc...and they both have plugs. Both are thus presumed to be able to be plugged into a weatherproof socket in the garden. So, is it the case that the rules/policies for permanent lights is different than the rules/policies for permanent fountains? Or do we somehow pretend that the fountain isn't 'permanent'?

Thanks!

Chuck

"Hardwired" doesn't preclude a timer. It just means that it can't be connected via a plug-and-cord. Several manufacturers make outdoor timers. So you could run UF cable from your light fixture, bury it 24", and come up under your rock, and connect to the timer. The timer in turn would be connected directly to the power, burying cable as necessary.

As far as the fountain pumps go, they're not designed to be "permanently" installed. This means that the cord for the pump should not be buried in dirt or under concrete.