Christmas Lights on Palm Trees: A Florida Guide

By Chance Sixma, Owner·8 min read·September 27, 2026

How do you put Christmas lights on palm trees?

You wrap the trunk, not the tree. Start at the base, spiral up at one consistent spacing, and stop where the trunk ends and the crown begins.

The short version

We use 70-light LED mini strands with 4-inch spacing. A small palm trunk takes about 2 strands. A large palm takes 4 to 5. That count is what keeps the glow even instead of thin at the top.

The spiral is the part people underestimate. Every pass around the trunk has to sit the same distance from the one below it, or the eye picks up the wobble from the driveway.

Why does a pro wrap look even and a DIY wrap does not?

Because the spacing is decided before the first pass, not during it. Once you start guessing, the gaps grow as you get tired and the top ends up looking starved.

What throws a wrap off

• Changing the spiral angle halfway up the trunk
• Running out of strand and stretching the last pass
• Pulling the strand tight in one spot and loose in another
• Starting partway up instead of at the base

We set the spacing at the bottom and hold it the whole way. Same strand type, same spacing, same finish height across every palm in the yard so they match each other.

How do we wrap a palm tree with lights, step by step?

Here is the sequence we follow on a palm trunk. It is the same on a short trunk or a tall one, just more strands.

The goal is one continuous spiral with the plug end at the bottom, near the power, and no slack loops hanging off the trunk.

1. 1
   Measure and count strands

   We size the trunk height first and pull the strand count that matches. Small trunks run about 2 strands, large ones 4 to 5.

2. 2
   Start at the base

   The strand starts low, right where it can reach the cord and timer. Starting at the base keeps the spiral consistent and keeps the connection reachable.

3. 3
   Set the spiral spacing

   The first few passes set the spacing for the whole trunk. We hold that same gap all the way up.

4. 4
   Stop below the crown

   The wrap ends where the trunk ends. Fronds and the crown stay clear.

5. 5
   Test before moving on

   We plug in and check the whole trunk before we move to the next palm.

Why keep the lights off the fronds and crown?

Fronds move. They swing in wind, they shed, and anything wrapped around them gets tugged and pulled loose. The trunk is the stable part of the tree, so that is where the lights live.

What it looks like from the street

A lit trunk gives you a clean vertical line of light next to the house. It frames the front without competing with the roofline.

On broadleaf trees the math is different. We wrap oak canopies out into the branches, and we hang icicle drop lights from branches. That is a separate look, covered in our guide to roofline, ridgeline and tree wrapping.

How much power do wrapped palms need, and where does it plug in?

LED mini lights draw very little, which is why a row of palms can run off ordinary exterior outlets. The planning part is where the cords land and whether the outlets work.

What we ask for

• Working outlets near the lit areas, GFCI recommended
• Your own decorations on a separate outlet, not ours
• Timers left the way we program them

We set the timers so the display runs itself. If something looks off, a call or text to us is the fastest fix. Wet outlets and GFCI trips after heavy rain are things we see in a Florida season, and they sit outside our control, but we will come sort out the lights.

Should you wrap palms yourself or hire it out?

Palms are an element people often try themselves, since the trunk looks reachable. Then the ladder comes out, the spacing drifts, and the strands live in the garage all year.

Here is the honest split between doing it yourself and the way we run it.

What does palm tree wrapping cost as part of a display?

Palms are priced as part of the whole display, not as a standalone line item, and every display starts at $1,000. Most single-story rooflines land between $1,000 and $2,000 a season. Two-story homes run $1,500 to $2,500. Large custom full-property displays start at $4,500.

Full numbers sit on our pricing page. Early bookers get 15% off for the 2026 season, though it does not stack on a job already at the $1,000 minimum.

What happens at takedown?

Takedown starts January 1 and finishes by January 31. The strands come off the trunk, get tagged with color-coded tags and stored in labeled bins at our facility so the same display goes back up next year.

Nothing is due at takedown. The balance is charged the day of install. If you would like the lights up later than January, that can be arranged ahead of time. Weather can push removal dates, which is normal here.

More on how storage works is on our removal and storage page.

• Unplug the cords at season end
• Reach out to us to schedule removal
• Let us know early if you want lights up past January
• Report any outage so we can fix it free
• Mention the lights to your landscaper
• Keep your own decor on a separate outlet

Where do we wrap palms?

We serve homes from Daytona Beach to Winter Park. Volusia County is home base, and wrapped palms are part of displays in Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange.

Everything runs as a seasonal rental: we supply the lights, install them, fix outages, take them down and store them. Quotes start from two to four clear photos of the front of the house plus any trees or columns you want lit, or from satellite and Street View. The quote form takes about 60 seconds and we reply the same day by text.

Installs run September through December, and by mid-November we are usually booked into mid-December.

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