Home / Blog / Planning to String Holiday Lights in Your Trees? A Pre-Decorating Check for Delta
Tree Care Planning
A Delta Homeowner's Pre-Decorating Tree Check Before the Lights Go Up
Woodpro Team · · ~7 min read
Before holiday lights go into a Delta tree, check deadwood, weak or hanging limbs, and branches near service lines. When a prune should come first, and when to call a crew.
Every late October in Delta, Ladner and Tsawwassen, the holiday lights come out of the closet. The tree is usually a front-yard western red cedar, a Douglas fir by the drive, or a bigleaf maple that has just dropped its leaves. The clocks fall back on November 1, so an afternoon start finishes in the dark, on a lawn already soft from rain.
You are looking up because of the display. Settle deadwood, a weak or hanging limb, and any branch near a service line before a clip goes on. A hanging broken limb, branches into the power lines and dormant pruning after leaf drop are separate jobs. So is cutting the top off a tall crown. This check is only whether the tree should hold lights, and whether the ladder stays in the garage.
Why a light plan is a tree check
A string of lights does not make a limb safer. It puts you under that limb, sometimes in it, through the November and December southeast gales.
You will be standing under the wood. The path, the ladder spot and the roof edge are the targets. A grey limb there should come off before the lights go up, not after they come down in January.
Rain season is already here. Saturated soil and mossy bark. Lights add a little weight and a snag in the wind. They do not hold a weak union together.
Daylight gets short. After the time change, judge a crack, a hanger or the gap to a service drop in the morning, from the lawn.
A sound tree, with the lights on the house, a railing or a low shrub you can reach from firm ground, may not need a crew. We will tell you so.
What to look for before any cord leaves the box
Stay on the lawn. Do not climb the tree, the fence or the roof for a closer photo. What you see from the ground is a reason to pause, not a diagnosis.
Deadwood over the path, the ladder spot or the roof edge. On a bare maple, birch, cherry or oak, that is grey wood with no buds. On cedar, fir or hemlock, it is brittle brown wood with no green, not the shaded brown inside a healthy cedar. A dead limb over the place you will stand comes off first. Do not pull it down.
Weak unions and hanging wood. Bark pinched in a tight V, a crack where a limb meets the stem, or a branch hung on a strip of bark. That is not a clip point. Stay out from under it. If you can see a hanger from the lawn, lights on that tree wait until the wood is down.
Branches near a service line. The line from the pole to the house, and any wire in or beside the crown, stays out of the display. Stay away from power lines and call the utility. If the crown is into the lines, that is a clearance job, not a decorating weekend. We do not give electrical instructions. Tree work there waits until the utility says the span is safe to be near.
The limb you hoped to use. Only sound live wood, and only what you can reach with both feet on the ground. Nails, screws and staples in the bark are a wound. If the picture needs a hole in the trunk, hang the lights on the house.
The ground. Roots, a slope, a soft lawn, a deck board or a narrow gate. If you cannot picture a stable stance in daylight, do not set the ladder up.
Should you prune before the lights go up?
Prune first when the wood is in the way of the display. Otherwise leave the tree and light the porch.
Deadwood in the way. Take it off before the clips go on. Deadwood over a walk, a drive or a roof edge is ordinary tree trimming and pruning, not a reshape of the live crown.
One live limb on the gutter. It can often come back to a side branch so the cord stays off the shingles. We do not top, flush-cut or lion-tail a crown so the bulbs show at the tips. If that is the request, we will say so.
A prune the tree does not need. Bare wood after leaf drop is normal, not a reason to open the crown for more lights. A structural prune on a deciduous tree is the dormant-season decision. Fir, cedar and hemlock still hold a full sail, so leave that foliage closed.
Lights already up. Tell us before anyone climbs. Sound wood can wait until the display comes down. A hanger, or deadwood over a walk, comes off first.
A failing stem is tree removal, planned while the tree still stands. Wood on the lawn is debris removal. A weak union on a tree you are keeping can be cable bracing, which supports the tree and is not a place to hang lights. We will not hang the lights, and we will not tell you how to wire them.
When the job should go to a tree crew instead of a ladder
Late October in Delta is wet bark and soft ground. That is a poor time to learn the crown from a ladder.
The wood is out of comfortable reach. A mature maple, fir or cedar is a climb. Send a photo taken from the ground.
Dead, cracked or hanging wood is in the same tree. Lights on the other side still put you under the bad wood. The crew removes the hazard first.
A service line is in the same view. Stay away from power lines and call the utility. No ladder and no cord in that direction.
Someone would have to use the roof. Wet shingles are not a platform. Light the house, or have the limb rigged from the tree.
The work would end in the dark. After November 1, do not start a ladder job you cannot finish while you can see your feet, the branch and any wire.
At home, keep to a railing, a low shrub, clips that do not wound the bark, daylight and no line overhead. We will not talk you up the tree.
A pre-decorating check at a glance
| What you are looking at | Before any lights go up | Who should handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Dead limb over the path, ladder spot or roof edge | Leave it out of the display | An arborist, before you decorate |
| Limb hanging by bark, or cracked at the union | Stay out from under it | A tree crew, not a lights errand |
| Branch near a service drop or other power line | No lights and no ladder that way | Stay away, and call the utility |
| Sound low wood you can reach from the ground | Clips on live bark, not nails | You, in daylight, on solid footing |
| Tall fir, cedar or maple crown | Leave the climb alone | A crew if wood must come out; otherwise light the house |
| A heavy prune so more bulbs will fit | That is not a reason to cut | Ask if the tree needs any cut |
| Boulevard or park tree | Leave it untouched | Confirm with the City first |
A City tree is not a light pole
This is not legal advice. In Delta, check the Tree Protection and Regulation Bylaw before removing or substantially pruning a private tree, and do not prune or remove City trees. Lights do not make a boulevard tree yours. Start at the City of Delta trees page and confirm the current rule. Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver and the rest differ.
If the City asks for a report, that is arborist reports and permits. We prepare it and do not predict the outcome. Mention a strata lot, or a trunk that may be the neighbour's, and talk to them first. Deadwood is not automatically exempt. Ask if you are unsure.
What to ask for when you call
Ground photos usually separate a short deadwood visit, a tree that should stay dark this year, and a hazard that should not wait for a decorating Saturday. If a limb has already failed, response is schedule- and weather-dependent.
- A whole-tree photo from across the yard, house or fence in frame.
- The limb you wanted to light, and any dead, cracked or hanging wood near it.
- Any service line in view, shot from a safe distance. Stay back.
- The footing for a ladder: slope, soft lawn, deck, roots or a narrow gate.
- City and ownership: Delta, Ladner, Tsawwassen, North Delta, a strata, or a boulevard tree.
- Whether lights are already up, and whether the bad limb can be unclipped without climbing.
- The hope: deadwood off before you decorate, a little roof clearance, or an answer that this tree stays out of the display.
Get a safer plan before the lights go up
Holiday lights belong on sound wood you can reach from the ground, or they belong on the house. Stop for deadwood over the path, a hanging limb, or any branch near a power line. If a prune is warranted, do it before the clips go on. A climb into a wet fir after dark is crew work, or it does not happen.
Woodpro crews include ISA-certified arborists, work fully insured, and follow WorkSafe BC practices. We can tell you whether to cut before you decorate, whether to leave the tree alone, or whether the hazard comes first and the display waits.
Get a Free Quote, or call (778) 800-6791. You can also email a few photos of the whole tree and the limbs you hoped to light to info@woodpro.ca. We serve Delta, Ladner, Tsawwassen and communities across Metro Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.