| Light Up the Landscape with Holiday Lights |
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So you decided to brighten the winter landscape with a few lights.
Always use lights made for the outdoors. Test and detangle the strands before you start placing the lights. It’s easier to replace a burnt out bulb on the ground than when you are on a ladder or the lights are in the plant.
Lighting trees can be a bit more challenging. Many gardeners simply wrap the trunks as high as they can reach – keeping their feet firmly on the ground. Extend your reach using a pole pruner, fruit harvester, or broom handle to gently place the lights over the branches of smaller trees. Larger trees may require a ladder. Use a sound ladder placed on level ground and consider enlisting a friend or relative to keep it steady as you work. Make sure you remove the lights at the end of the season. A bit more information: Always be careful not injure yourself or your plants when installing holiday lights. Try wrapping the strands of lights around your hand and bent elbow. This keeps them tangle-free and easy to move as you negotiate ladders and the plants. And, be sure to remove the lights at the end of the season. Undetected strands of lights can accidently be cut when pruning in the spring. This can be dangerous and dulls your pruning saw. Plus, tightly wrapped lights can girdle fast growing trees in just one year. |
Carefully drape the lights over the branches of your shrubs. Loosely attach if needed. The new lighted netting makes decorating shrubs much easier on you and the plants.
