Installing lights on trees, bushes, walkways and more
Clear, practical instructions for every part of a lit property beyond the roofline: how to wrap a tree trunk, blanket a hedge, stake a walkway, outline windows and fences, and fix the problems that show up halfway through the season.
Tree wraps
Spiral mini lights up a trunk and out along the limbs, with a strand count worked out before you climb.
Read the guideBushes and hedges
Drape, weave or grid lights over shrubs and hedges so they glow evenly instead of in clumps.
Read the guideWalkway stakes
Line a path or bed with C9 bulbs on 8 inch stakes, spaced to match the socket wire.
Read the guideWindows and fences
Outline window trim and run lights along rails, posts and gates without damaging the finish.
Read the guideTroubleshooting
Find the cause of a dark section, a tripped GFCI or a blown plug fuse with a step-by-step isolation method.
Read the guideReplace sockets and bulbs
Swap a damaged C9 socket, re-seat LED bulbs and fit a new slide plug in a few minutes.
Read the guideHow a whole-property install fits together
A lit property is really five or six small projects sharing the same power. Trees and shrubs usually take LED mini lights, because the bulbs are small and the strands are flexible enough to follow bark and branches. Walkways and garden beds usually take C9 bulbs on stakes, because the larger bulb reads clearly at ground level and the socket wire can be laid in a straight line. Windows and fences sit in between: minis follow tight trim, while C9 bulbs on socket wire suit long, straight rails.
Thinking of the job as separate zones makes everything easier to plan. Each zone gets its own strand or wire count, its own route back to an outlet, and its own timer. If one zone has a problem later, the rest of the display stays lit while you sort it out.
Plan the power before you hang anything
The most common reason an install goes wrong is not the lights themselves but the path the electricity takes to reach them. Before you unpack a single strand, walk the property and answer four questions.
1. Where are the outdoor outlets?
Mark every exterior receptacle on a rough sketch. Outdoor receptacles should be GFCI protected and fitted with an in-use (bubble) cover so they stay dry with a cord plugged in. Press the TEST and RESET buttons on each one now, not in December.
2. Which outlets share a circuit?
Two outlets on the same breaker share the same capacity. Plug a lamp into each outlet, switch breakers off one at a time, and note which ones go dark together. Write the breaker number on your sketch.
3. What will each zone draw?
Add up the wattage printed on each strand or bulb. For continuous loads such as holiday lighting, keep each circuit at or under 80 percent of its breaker rating: 1,440 watts on a 15 amp circuit and 1,920 watts on a 20 amp circuit. Our sister guide on how many C9 lights can run on one circuit works through the arithmetic.
4. How will cords reach each zone?
Trace a route from outlet to zone that avoids walkways, driveways and low spots where water pools. Keep every connection off the ground, and use outdoor-rated cord. Custom-length runs of SPT-1 lamp cord with slide plugs keep leftover cord from piling up in the yard.
Keep ladders on firm, level ground, keep three points of contact when you climb, and never work near overhead service lines. Unplug a zone before you handle its connections, and do not staple through any cord or socket wire.
Choosing lights for each zone
Most of the decisions on this site come down to two families of light.
- LED mini lights for trees, shrubs and window trim. 4 inch spacing LED minis put bulbs closer together for a denser look on trunks; 6 inch spacing LED minis cover more length per strand and suit canopies and large hedges. Both come on green wire, and several warm tones are also offered on white wire for white trim and fences.
- C9 LED bulbs on socket wire for walkways, beds, fence rails and big shrubs. The wire comes on spools with sockets at a fixed spacing, so you cut it to the exact length you need and add C9 LED bulbs in the color you want.
Pick one white and stick with it across the property. Warm White (2800-3200K), Sun Warm White (2600-2800K) and Winter Warm White (2900K) all look slightly different side by side, and mixing them is the quickest way to make a display look patched together.
A sensible order of work
- Test every strand and spool on the ground before it goes up. A dark strand is far easier to deal with on a table than in a tree.
- Run power first: lay cords to each zone and set the timers so you can check each section as it goes up.
- Work from the highest and hardest zone down: trees first, then windows and fences, then shrubs, then walkway stakes last so you are not tripping over them.
- Switch each zone on at dusk and walk the property from the street to catch gaps, uneven spacing and mismatched whites.
When something does go dark, the troubleshooting guide walks through a methodical way to isolate it, and the repair guide covers the fixes. For a parts list sorted by zone, see supplies by project.
Where to buy the supplies
Every item named on this site is stocked at Christmas Light Supplier, the store we link to for parts. Orders ship the same day they are placed, shipping is free on every order, and there is no order minimum and no added fees, so a single pack of replacement sockets costs the same to ship as a full install kit: nothing.
- Free shipping on every order
- Ships same day
- No minimum
- No fees