Question 1

how do I determine wire size?

Accepted Answer

A more difficult question than appears, a lot depends on not just what your current plans are, but also what you may change in the future.
In my case, the first run at our outdoor lighting about doubled after first run at our back yard.  Thank goodness I had run everything in 12/2 rather than the 14/2, or 16/2 that others had said was adequate.  Truth is, I wanted much more than an adequate lighting display.
In our case, the lighting was a part of a very expensive deck project which I had built as a 50th anniversary gift to my wife, which we celebrated last night!
First time we used the deck with the lighting, my wife was blown away, but we decided to step up the display, wow what a difference.
I remember reading a contractors online comments that because of LED bulbs being so efficient, he doesn’t quote 12/2 any longer, boy am I glad I never meet him! 
I do regret only setting up the wiring with 2 zones, one front yard, the other the rear.  If I were ever to do a system as I did, I’d probably have a separate circuit for up in trees, and water feature separate from lower ground scrubs, so I could illuminate in sections which is really dramatic especially if set up on switches controlled from my iPhone.
We did wire in low voltage uplighting on the deck separate, as with the 120V party string lights, over some areas, and twinkles in trees, all of which are on separate circuits, and controlled by my iPhone.
Good luck, have fun designing exactly what you want, the low voltage systems are easy to install by yourself, with minimal help.
Last night at our anniversary party, my daughter had a really neat yet very inexpensive outdoor lighting system she installed herself.  She had individual battery operated LED lighting on her outdoor flower pots, and her flower garden, and a number of paper lanterns hanging in her trees, talk about dramatic, she only spent a few hundred, and the lights aren’t permanent, but can be easily removed or changed per her whims...
This could be a fun idea to augment a smaller display,  but probably takes a few hours per change

Question 2

material is listed as aluminum /copper - what is the alumnum component, if wire is not copper clad?

Accepted Answer

I think the aluminum in the materials list is a misprint, since the description goes to some length to explain it is pure copper. It seemed to be so to me.

Question 3

do you need a ground wire?

Accepted Answer

No ground wire is needed for a low voltage system.

Question 4

How do I know which cable is which if they're both the same color??

Accepted Answer

This cable if intended to be used in a Low Voltage application. Usually with a 12Volt transformer. 
In this application, it doesn’t matter which wire is used to connect your fixtures.

FIRMERST 12/2 Low Voltage Landscape Wire Outdoor Lighting Cable UL Listed 50 Feet

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