How to bring that timeless, tree-lined-street glow to your own yard.
Drive through Myers Park or Eastover in December and you’ll see it: massive old trees wrapped in warm white light, glowing orbs floating in the canopy overhead. It’s the most photographed holiday look in Charlotte, and it comes down to two techniques done well.
Trunk Wraps: The Foundation of the Look
A trunk wrap is exactly what it sounds like — strands of mini lights wound tightly and evenly up the trunk and out along the major limbs. The magic is in the consistency. Even spacing, snug wraps, and clean transitions from trunk to branch are what separate a professional wrap from a strand tossed around a tree. When it’s done right, the tree itself becomes sculpture.
Light Balls: The Glow in the Canopy
Light balls are spheres of light hung high in the branches, where they float like ornaments scaled to the tree. A mature willow oak with a dozen glowing spheres in its canopy is genuinely breathtaking — and because they hang overhead, they add depth and height that ground-level lighting can’t touch. Paired with a trunk wrap below, the whole tree lights from root to crown.
Why Mature-Tree Neighborhoods Wear It Best
This look was made for Charlotte’s older neighborhoods, where decades-old oaks and elms line the streets. The bigger and more sculptural the tree, the more dramatic the result. But you don’t need a Myers Park address to get it — one good mature tree in your front yard is enough to anchor the whole display.
What It Costs Relative to Roofline Lighting
We’ll be straightforward: tree work is more labor-intensive than roofline outlining, so it typically costs more for the same stretch of house. Wrapping a large tree takes time, care, and a lot of strands, and light balls involve working high in the canopy. The price scales with the size of the tree and how far up the branches we wrap — which is why every quote starts with a free custom design for your specific yard.
Want the Look for Your Own Trees?
We’ll design it around your yard, free — get a fast quote to see what your trees could do.