Using a live tree for a mega tree

[Little_b]

Hey everyone I'm semi-new to the mega tree industry.  I've done a small one off my Flag Pole for years, but sadly the wind brought it down last summer.  I have about a 20' Linden Tree that takes up the corner of my front yard. ( I live on a corner).  I was thinking of running a PVC pole up it to attempt to make a Mega Tree from it.   Has anyone every made a Mega Tree using a live tree before?  I'm curious to see any pics or vids.  The concern I have is if the branches will block the effect of the what the Mega Tree is all about.

[k6ccc]

I would be concerned with the tree blocking too much of the display.   The other part is I might be concerned about the tree moving and damaging the lights (especially if you are running RGB pixel strips of some sort.

[plasmadrive]

I have nine, 35 foot tall redwood trees that line the side of my driveway.  They are the backdrop for the show from the most popular angle... I was thinking about making them Mega Trees at one point but then after asking what some of my neighbors thought, they said the lights wrapped around the trees in a "normal" fashion are the best, at least for them.  Looks like less of a lightshow and more like a Christmas display... so I opted to keep them as wrapped trees...  I think I agree with them.. I have even wrapped my two Chinese Hackberry trees in the front yard.

 

You may want to use your tree like a tree.  Segment the sections perhaps for some effects..   Just my two cents worth.

[jim6918]

I have (had) two live trees in my front yard that I was forced to include in my display because they were so large that they were a
huge black space blocking the lights from many viewing angles, just as member k6ccc said.  So, I used to run 16 strings of lights up each major branch of each tree. The one closest to the street (a poplar) was so tall that I had to hire a cherry picker truck just to run lights up the branches.  The one closest to the house (an apricot) is just tall enough so that I can run light strings with a tall ladder, clinging on for dear life. 
 

I used one 16 channel controller for both trees and reversed the firing order on each tree so that the trees were in reverse of each other for a very nice effect.  I used to use the last of my 100 count green incan strings and would just leave the strings up until the next year as it was too much trouble and expensive to take them down.  I would simply tear out the old and replace with the new.  At $2.00 a string that wasn’t too cost prohibitive, but I am now 100% LED and 32 strings at $12 a string is just too darn expensive to waste each year.
 

So here comes the arborist who cut down the poplar tree and another pine tree that blocked the house view from another angle.  I will now be able to expand my mini trees and/or arches into the space where the poplar stood.  I still have the apricot tree and plan on using green LED strings in the same fashion as past years.  The effect is startling in my opinion and well worth the effort.  I will be securing the strings to the branches using removable zip ties rather than staples.
 

If you are interested, I can probably scare up some pics of the past years, just send me a PM with a good email address.