Plan Christmas topiary in September if you want anything built to order, anything large or anything in quantity. By late fall the queue for custom pieces is usually full. Stock pieces, such as lit wire animals from $128 to $414 and pre-lit trees from 5 to 7 feet, can be bought later, but October is safer than December.
What can be bought late
Stock pieces: lighted wire animals from $128 for a 17 inch poodle to $414 for a 21 inch basset hound, and pre-lit trees from 5 to 7 feet, including a 7 foot spiral spruce with 400 warm white lights and an unlit version of the same tree.
Buy in October rather than December if a specific animal or height matters. These ship while stock lasts, and seasonal stock is not usually replenished in December. What the lights actually cost compares a lit tree with an unlit one.
| What | When to order |
|---|---|
| Lit wire animals, pre-lit trees | October; December while stock lasts |
| Custom pieces, odd sizes | Late summer to September |
| Commercial displays, public sites | Late summer |
What cannot
Anything built to a drawing rather than picked from stock: custom pieces, sizes not in the range, groups of figures, large commercial displays and anything anchored for a public site.
The lead time on these depends on the queue when you ask, and by late fall it is usually full. If you are planning a display for a hotel entrance, a shop front or a town center, start in late summer. Christmas topiary commissions sets out how that works, and how a topiary commission works covers the steps.
Planning a commercial display
Settle four things before you ask for a price. They move the price more than the design does.
Power. Where the outlets are, whether they are switched, and whether anything needs a timer. A display somebody has to switch on by hand is a display somebody forgets.
Mounting. Public sites need anchoring that survives a crowd. That is a different fixing from a garden, and it has to be planned from the start.
Storage. Decide where the pieces go for the other eleven months. Owners often leave this until January.
Reuse. A design that reads only as Christmas works one month a year. Choose shapes that still look right unlit, and the same pieces can stand at the entrance the rest of the year.
Storing and reusing
Store everything dry. Wipe pieces down, let them dry fully and box them somewhere damp cannot reach. Damp trapped in storage shows up first at the electrical connections, not in the foliage.
Many owners skip storage and leave the shapes out all year, running the lights only in season. A good frame or spiral holds an entrance on its outline alone. Read how lighted topiary works for power, weather and what fails.
Quick answers
When should I order Christmas topiary?
Stock pieces in October. Anything built to order in late summer or September, because the queue is usually full by late fall.
How much are lighted topiary animals?
The lit wire animals run from $128 for a 17 inch poodle to $414 for a 21 inch basset hound.
Do the pieces work after Christmas?
The shapes do, if you like them unlit. Check each listing for outdoor use, and store anything with lights somewhere dry when it comes in.
What do you need for a commercial quote?
Where the power is, how the pieces will be mounted, where they will be stored the rest of the year, and your date.
