Trees decorated with light strings always look festive for the holidays, and they can be just as fun and magical any other time of the year. During warm weather, there’s nothing more inviting than a comfortable outdoor space bejeweled with twinkling lights.
Lighting is suitable for most types of trees, including evergreens, deciduous trees, palm trees, and even yucca. Often, bare leafless trees provide the ideal framework for hanging lights, especially horizontal-spreading varieties. Palm tree trunks wrapped with white or red lights show off their vertical, upright forms, drawing the eye upward toward the night sky.
The best outdoor lights to use are LED lights. LEDs are not only 75 percent more energy efficient than standard incandescent bulbs, they also last many times longer. LED lights cost quite a bit more than incandescent, but because LEDs cost less to run, they pay for themselves long before they burn out.
For the color of the lights, warm white LEDs provide a nice, warm glow reminiscent of the incandescents that everyone loves (and with which so many traditionalists have trouble parting). Cool white offers a bluish glow, and colored lights are either multicolored or one color. White is universal and is suitable for any time of the year. Colored lights usually are best for the holidays. In any case, it looks best if you choose the same lights in each color, such as all warm or all cool whites.
