A lighted topiary is a welded steel wire frame in the shape of an animal, with strings of small lights woven along its wires. After dark the lights draw the animal’s outline, and in daylight you see the dark wire shape. It plugs into an outlet, so the main thing to plan is where the cord will run.
That gives it two jobs. From November it is a glowing figure. The rest of the year, left out unlit, it is a clean wire silhouette.
How the lighting is fitted
The light strings are wound along the frame’s wires, so the animal stays recognizable across a yard after dark. Lights thrown loosely over the top would blur it into a glowing lump.
Our range has sixteen lighted pieces, from a 13 inch dachshund to a 21 inch basset hound that is 32 inches long. Most are dogs, because dogs are what people ask for most. Prices run from $128 to $414.
Power: plan the cord before you buy
These plug in. People forget that until the piece is in place and the nearest outlet is forty feet away.
Work out the cord run before you buy. You need a covered outdoor outlet, and an outdoor-rated extension cord if the run is long. Route the cord so it does not cross a path people walk on.
If you are lighting several, put them on one switched outlet or a plug-in timer. Otherwise switching them on becomes a nightly chore. Check the rating printed on the light strings before you run several from one outlet.
Weather: keep the connections dry
Most trouble comes from water getting into a connection. A string that sat in a puddle through February fails far more often than one that simply got rained on.
Keep plugs and joins off the ground, and use a covered outlet. Lift any connection that would otherwise sit in standing water. If your spot is very exposed or the piece will stand on a public site, ask our team about the rating before you order.
Wind matters on the larger pieces. Pin or weigh down anything over about two feet in an exposed spot, just as you would a bare frame.
Seasonal, or all year
Both work, but the choice changes what you should buy.
Seasonal. Run it from Thanksgiving to New Year, then bring it in. Wipe it down, let it dry fully, and box it somewhere dry. Damp trapped in storage is the most common cause of failure, and it shows at the connections.
All year. Buy a shape you would want to look at dark as well as lit. You can leave it out and run the lights only in season, with the wire outline on show for the other eight months.
Buying for a business display
Lighting a hotel entrance, a store front or a town center is a bigger job. Sizes go up, the mounting has to survive crowds, and everything should run on one timed circuit.
Larger lighted pieces and multi-figure displays are built to order. The Christmas topiary page explains how ordering works. Start in September, because a December display is decided long before December.
For pre-lit trees rather than animals, the lighted artificial range covers spirals and cones, and what the lights on a pre-lit tree cost compares lit and unlit. Every animal, lit and unlit, is on the topiary animals page.
Quick answers
Can a lighted topiary stay outside?
Yes, on a porch, patio or bed. Use a covered outdoor outlet and keep plugs and joins off the ground. Water in a connection causes more failures than the weather itself.
How do lighted topiaries get power?
They plug into an ordinary outlet. Outdoors, use a covered outlet and an outdoor-rated extension cord, and put several on one timer.
Can I leave one out all year?
Yes. Unlit, the wire outline still holds a porch or a border through the other months, so buy a shape you would want to look at dark as well as lit.
How do I store a lighted topiary?
Wipe it down, let it dry fully, then box it somewhere dry. Damp trapped in storage is the most common cause of failure.
Can I order a larger lighted piece?
Yes, built to order, including full business displays. Start in September rather than November.
Keep reading: the lighted animal range and pre-lit trees.
