How many lights for outdoor bushes (a chart by bush size)

Have you ever wrapped a bush in lights, stepped back to the street, and realized it looks spotty? Or run out of lights halfway around? Today I have a chart by bush size so you can buy the right amount the first time!

Plan on about 100 mini lights for every 10 square feet of bush surface. That’s what you end up with when you wrap or weave strands about 4 inches apart, and it looks evenly lit from the street. For a round bush, that works out to roughly 300 lights for a 3 ft bush and 500 for a 4 ft bush. If you want that dense, professionally-lit look, double it. Using net lights instead? One standard 4 ft by 6 ft net covers about 24 square feet, which is the visible side of a 3 to 4 ft shrub.

I’ll be honest, the guides out there don’t agree on this at all! I found rules ranging from 100 lights per 15 square feet all the way up to 50 to 100 lights per square foot. The low end looks spotty, and the high end is a lot of lights for a front yard. So I did the math from the spacing (which is how you’ll actually hang them), and that’s what my chart uses.

Step 1. Measure the bush

Grab a tape measure and get two numbers for each bush: how tall it is and how wide it is. Then figure out how much surface you’re covering.

For a round or mounded bush, a quick estimate is width × width × 3 = square feet of surface. (A 3 ft bush is about 27 square feet. A 4 ft bush is about 48.)

For a boxy hedge, add up the sides you’ll see plus the top. That’s length × height for the front, plus length × depth for the top.

Only count the sides people will actually see. If a bush is right up against the house, skip the back.

Step 2. Check the chart

This is what I’d buy for round bushes where the height and width are about the same, lit on all the sides people can see.

Bush size	Approx. surface	Lights at 4” spacing	Dense look	4x6 nets
2 ft	about 12 sq ft	100 – 150	250 – 300	1 (fold or tuck the extra)
3 ft	about 27 sq ft	250 – 300	500 – 600	1
4 ft	about 48 sq ft	450 – 500	900 – 1,000	1 front only, 2 all around
5 ft	about 75 sq ft	700 – 750	1,400 – 1,500	2 front only, 3 all around
6 ft	about 108 sq ft	1,000 – 1,100	2,000 – 2,200	3 front only, 4 – 5 all around

In case you’re wondering where the 100-per-10-square-feet number comes from: if your bulbs are 4 inches apart on the wire and your wraps are 4 inches apart, each bulb covers a 4 by 4 inch square. That’s about 9 bulbs per square foot, or 100 lights for about 11 square feet. If the box says the bulbs are spaced wider, you’ll need fewer lights for the same coverage, so check the bulb spacing and the “lit length” on the package.

Step 3. Use net lights on round bushes

For round and boxy shrubs, I’d use net lights every time! A 4 x 6 ft net is a grid of lights that are already spaced for you. You drape it over the top, pull it down the sides, and you’re done in about two minutes per bush.

A few tips to make nets look better:

• Overlap the seams by 2 to 3 inches where two nets meet. A gap leaves a dark stripe you’ll see from the street.
• Pull the net snug and tuck the edges into the branches so the bottom row isn’t floating.
• Match the wire to the bush. Green wire disappears into a green shrub during the day. White wire looks like a tarp!
• Go a size up instead of stretching. Stretching a net pulls the bulbs into a diamond shape and leaves holes.

Nets are less dense than the 4-inch wrap math. A 4x6 net usually has somewhere around 100 to 150 bulbs on 24 square feet. So if you want a really bright bush, layer a net and then weave a strand through the front.

Step 4. Use string lights on tall or odd shapes

Nets don’t fit arborvitae, spiral topiaries, or anything taller than it is wide. For those, use string lights and weave them back and forth instead of wrapping around and around like a barber pole.

This is how I do it:

1. Plug the strand in before you start so you can see gaps as you go.
2. Start at the bottom on the side closest to the outlet.
3. Zigzag the strand back and forth across the front of the bush, pushing it a few inches into the branches instead of just laying it on top.
4. Keep each pass about 4 inches above the last one.
5. Every couple of passes, step back to the sidewalk and look. That’s the view that counts!

To check how much string you need: a 6 ft tall bush with 4-inch spacing needs 18 passes. Multiply that by the distance around the bush and you’ll know how many feet of lit length to buy.

Step 5. Pick your spacing

• 2 to 3 inches: dense, for bushes right by the front door or a walkway
• 4 inches: the even, standard look from the street
• 6 inches: bushes set way back from the road, or a budget-friendly first year

Spacing matters more than the exact count. A bush with 300 lights spaced evenly looks better than 600 bunched up on the front.

Step 6. Power it safely

Bushes are where connections end up sitting in wet mulch, and that’s the number one reason outdoor lights trip the GFCI when it rains. A few rules I follow:

• Use lights and cords marked for outdoor use, and plug into a GFCI-protected outdoor outlet.
• Check the tag on each set for how many sets can be connected end to end. That number is the limit!
• Lift every connection up into the branches with a zip tie instead of leaving it on the ground.
• I run everything from the bushes into an outdoor power stake timer, with an outdoor-rated extension cord running to the outlet. The yard turns on at dusk and off on its own.
• If you’d rather set the schedule from your phone, this Kasa outdoor smart plug is an app-controlled option instead of a mechanical timer. It still goes in that same GFCI-protected outdoor outlet.

If your lights are already tripping the outlet, my step-by-step for finding the wet connection is in why outdoor Christmas lights trip the GFCI when it rains. For hanging lights on the house itself, I go through clips for each surface in how to hang Christmas lights without nails. And if you want the porch done too, here’s my front porch done in one afternoon.

Quick Recap

Measure, multiply width × width × 3, and buy about 10 lights per square foot of that number. Use nets on round bushes and woven strands on tall ones, keep them about 4 inches apart, and get the plugs off the ground.

How many bushes are you lighting this year? I hope this chart helped you figure out how many lights to grab! If you light up your bushes, be sure to post on Instagram and tag me @sugardesignco because I love seeing the beautiful decor y’all create!

-Ciera

Made something with this? Tag me @sugardesignco — I love seeing them.