Stringing Christmas lights

ArborVista

ArborVista

Location
Lake of Bays
Are there techniques people are using for stringing Christmas lites on say 30'-50' spruce trees? What ways are most efficient, easy to maintain, special tools that allow the string to be secured quickly. What about the LED lites...any issues with them?
Should the lights spiral up or down the tree? What about strings running vertically? What about a bucket truck or spiderlift. Any proficient ways with other tools?
Any thots are appreciated.
 
Good thread, I'm eager to hear responses.
I haven't done many and the ones I have done looked sort of stupid.
From the ground up I've considered using a wire lifter on a pole,
accessesories_layup4.jpg

and then extensions, but anymore than 16' (or 24!!) would be pretty cumbersome.
I had also considered tying the lightstring off at the top and then throwing/lowering in out the outside of the canopy. Maybe then the cords could be spiraled around just by walking around the tree, if there is enough room. The pole and extensions would help here as well to get better lifting angles.

A bucket would be nice...
 
We do roughly 100 Christmas light displays on the trees at Longwood Gardens each year. There are two types, cones and wraps. Wraps are like normal wrapping the lights around the limbs and trunk. Cones are spiraled around a pre-strung cone made of cord. Wraps we start with the female plug as far as you can climb out on a limb and wrap in. Normally we do all the limbs first, wrapping them until we get to the trunk and stop. Then go up and bring the top down and plug the limbs in as we go down. Most trees we have large extension cords that have spaced out plugs on them so we can plug 50 or 100 or even 200+ light strands (all of our lights are LED now) into one extension cord.

Thats kind of the basics, I work with FlyingSquirrel25 who leads the crew during Christmas light install. I'll let him post some more details and probably pictures to go along with.

-Tyler
 
We install lights on one great big, ugly austrian pine every year. We actually have to run wire from top to bottom of the tree to "fill in the gaps." After that we spiral lights from top to bottom, electric taping them to the wire or limbs where ever necessary. 4 different colors, we run 1 color at a time then start back at the top.

We are lucky enough to use two bucket trucks, one on either side. Run the string of lights around, hand it off, tape it up on the way back for the next hand off.

As stated before, the tree is really ugly, but with the addition of the wire, it gives it a good shape and looks really good at night... known a few girls like that.
 
YoungBuzzer is right at Longwood the arborist crew installed around 217,000 lights last year on just under 4500 strands. This year we are on pace to install slightly more due to finished construction. We began the day after Labor Day and will work all the way until Thanksgiving. We stick mostly to the 2 forms Buzzer spoke about and do just a couple of what I think you all are doing. Ill attach a few picture for your enjoyment.
This is 3 of 6 holly trees we used to decorate.
 

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And this is just a really cool one. You would never think that Christmas lights would make a tree look like this.
 

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It is really tough at first. This is my second year doing them and I think I'm finally getting a hang for it. Its great practice/training for climbing out really far. Alot of us are using redirects (natural and retrievable pulleys) to get out really far, especially on those Copper Beeches in the picture above. Takes time getting used to that and also carrying gear (a ditty bag filled with caps, multi plugs (cube taps), a bundle of lights and various sizes of extension cords).

But...it is very fun and we always get a great outcome when the install is done.
 
These posts are great. Keep them coming. The copper beech pics are intense. I like your style! Do you actually secure each bulb in place or do you drape the string and attach...here and there? What makes an installation string of lights from Ok to GREAT? Is there such a thing as too many lights in the tree?
What about LED's vs. regular bulbs?
 
Are you referring to the cone or the wraps?

Alot of our trees have been decorated for years and years so the design of what limbs and where lights need to go have been laid out for a while but on new ones, it just takes a little artistic touch to balance the whole tree out. There DEF is such thing as too many lights, the tree becomes a huge blur if you light too much.

LED lights are a godsend compared to incandesants (sp?). They are much more durable, last many more years, the bulbs are plastic not glass, they dont fall out, you can gently walk on them or drop them and not worry about breaking them. But they are more expensive and alot brighter so thats when spacing and how much is being decorated comes in.

Squirrel, want to add some more...
 
Making a tree go from ok to great has very little to do with the lights (LED is better though), it comes down to the time and care you take in stringing the lights. If you look at the pictures which do you like more the green conifer or the copper beeches? Which would you rather see on your street. If you take time to make sure that the wraps are tight (so they dont slip), and the spacing is consistant you will be much happier with the outcome. As I mentioned before we do very little "draping". We either wrap the branches, do the cone form or we hang lit orniments. Maybe the Buzzer and I can come up with a video to show exaclty how its done. We have 8 white oaks to complete and it would be a perfect time to do such a demonstration.
The Buzzer also hit the nail on the head about climbing. holiday lights are the easyest way to go from a good climber to a really good climber. You are consistantly pushing yourself to get places you would have no other reason to be, and using tools and techniques that you otherwise may never use.
 
I am impressed with your skill and understanding of this. It would seem to me this is an acquired skill, and patience must be in ready supply. I have the use of a spiderlift, with the project being on a golf course. The trees are ~30'spruce. With the basket above the spire of the spruce, can a person on the ground start to spiral the string from the ground up, then use the lift to continue up the tree? Could a person use the basket above the spruce as a tie-in? and access the trees perimeter? Should there be some interior lites within the spruce?
I know so many questions...but I enjoy your input.
 
This depends on how your decorating the tree. If your just draping the lights around the tree, yeah you could do it all from the basket probably. But if your looking to wrap the limbs and trunk like our beeches, you'd need a mix of a climber/bucket/ground guy. Or just climber and ground guy. We use our buckets very little on displays now to reduce the impact on our visitors. If your looking to wrap the limbs and trunk, you could use the lift to start the strands at the ends of the limbs go as far as you can and then have a climber continue the wrap to the trunk. Then once all the limbs are done, start from the top and wrap down the trunk and connect everything together. (Just be mindful of overloading the strands, LEDs we only connect 20 in a series. Incandescent are much less.)

It is hard to wrap up, your fighting gravity the whole time so the lights tend to slide down if you don't keep them tight. It is much easier to wrap down.

TIP is up to you, we always climb out of the top of the tree, no bucket anchors.
 
The aquired skill come in when you start to connect the lights together, and the forward thinking with the resources you have. If you have 10 feet of limb left to wrap and 10 feet of light left you need to realize its not gonna reach. Then the decision... Add another strand and tighten the wraps up or strech you wraps and make the 10 feet work. Patients must be in great supply, especially when you are having a bad day. Buzzer is correct, we found that 20 LED strands is a good balance between stringing cords and having problems finding issues when failures happen. BUT... I urge everyone to follow the manufacturers instructions with how many light to connect.
IMO- I would wrap the tree, limbs and trunk. I have never been super happy with drapping. Looks cool when lit from the inside. Keep the questions coming.
 
So this is some great insight. Are there lite strands that are more commercial than others? what sort of branch life do they have, 2 years, 5 years? Do you take them off every year? Surely not...
Perhaps I could PM you for actual brand names?
 
Flyingsquirrel can give you the life of the strands more exact, how commercial they are and possible brand names.

I know we order them straight from China because we order so many.

Alot of our displays do get completely removed and re-installed every year. There are a few that we have on a schedule. 1st year: whole tree gets lit, but in spring leave the end strands on or a little more and remove remainging. 2nd year: start from strands that were left on and work down but then in spring remove all. 3rd year: start from scratch installing the whole display. These are normally our big trees like Copper Beechs, Weeping Beech, an Oak and a few others. On the beechs, you'll see the tree start to either grow over the strands, or just start breaking the strands so you have to be a little careful with how much you leave on or how tight you leave them on there.
 
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