Bush Light Options for Contractors: Net Lights vs Mini Light Wraps

Bush light is the add-on that turns a roofline job into a whole-house job. The customer already said yes to C9s on the gutter line. Now they look down at the hedge under the front window and ask if you can do that too. You can. The decision is what to put on it: LED net lights or mini light wraps.

I scaled my install business to $1M+ a year with 4 crews before I sold it in 2018, and bushes were a question I asked on every walkthrough. Shrubs sit right where the customer looks when they pull into the driveway. This guide covers which bush light to stock, how to size it to the plant, and how to sell it without slowing down the close.

The video above is about hanging garland, and the idea behind it carries over to bushes. The roofline gets the customer's attention. The pieces below it make the house feel finished. Commercial wreaths in the gable, lit shrubs along the foundation, and stakes down the walkway pull the eye from the peak to the front door. Bushes are the easiest of those to add on the spot.

What Is the Best Bush Light for a Christmas Light Install Business?

The best bush light for a contractor is the one your crew can install clean, service fast, and pull down without shredding the plant. On rounded residential shrubs, that is pro-grade 5mm wide angle LED mini lights wrapped by hand. LED net lights earn their place on long hedge rows and commercial beds where speed matters more than shape.

Both products live in the HQ catalog for a reason. The LED net lights collection is built for draping over bushes, hedges, and big evergreens in a hurry. The mini and string lights collection is the 5mm wide angle standard for bush coverage, ornamental trees, and accents. The question is not which one is good. It is which one fits the plant in front of you.

Here is the short version. Nets cover a surface. Wraps follow a shape. A boxy hedge is a surface. A loose, rounded holly or boxwood is a shape. Match the product to the plant and the job looks right from the street.

Net Lights or Mini Lights: Which Should You Stock?

Stock both, but not in equal amounts. Lead your bush light inventory with 5mm wide angle mini lights, because they handle every bush shape and they are the same strand you use on trees and columns. Add net lights in your core colors for hedge rows, commercial beds, and any job where the crew needs to move fast.

That last row is why wraps lead. One strand type in your core colors covers bushes, tree trunks, porch columns, and the mini light layer on a wreath. That keeps your truck stock simple and your reorders predictable. Nets are a specialist tool. Keep them for the jobs where they shine.

When net lights win

• Long, flat-topped hedges along a driveway or a commercial storefront.
• Large evergreen shrubs the crew cannot reach into without a ladder.
• Volume accounts where the install window is tight and every minute of crew time counts.
• Townhome and multi-family runs where every unit has the same hedge.

When mini light wraps win

• Rounded, loose, or irregular shrubs where a net would bunch or gap.
• Front-entry bushes the customer will see up close every night.
• Any job where you are also wrapping trees or columns and want one strand type on the truck.
• Mixed runs where you blend twinkle LED mini lights into steady-burn strands for sparkle.

How Do You Size Net Lights to a Bush or Hedge?

Size a net to the face of the bush you want lit, not the whole plant. Measure the width, then the drop from the top to where you want the light to stop. Pick a net that covers that face with slight overlap. Never stretch a net to fit. A stretched grid opens up and the gaps show from the street.

Hedges are the easy case. Lay nets end to end along the top and let them hang down the street-facing side. Overlap the seams so there is no dark stripe between nets. Customers rarely see the back of a hedge, so do not spend product lighting it.

Rounded bushes are the hard case for nets. A net wants to sit flat, and a rounded bush pushes the center up and leaves the sides thin. If the plant is small enough that a net drapes all the way around, a net can work. If the net cannot reach the sides, switch to a wrap.

Wraps are sized by strand count. Start at the bottom, spiral up, and count strands as the crew goes. A large bush can take 3 strands. That strand count is also your quote, which is why I like wraps for pricing. The number the crew uses is the number the customer pays for.

If you want a second set of eyes on the count before you quote, the bush lighting calculator on Christmas Lights HQ walks you through it.

How Do You Install Bush Lights So They Look Professional and Come Down Fast?

A professional bush light install has bulbs facing out, no visible cord, and a power path the customer cannot trip over. Takedown is built in from the first strand. Start near the power source, work away from it, and finish where the next bush begins. A crew that installs with takedown in mind pulls the job faster and leaves the plant whole.

Mini light wrap sequence

1. Plug the first strand in at the base nearest the outlet or splitter. Tuck the plug under the mulch line so it disappears.
2. Spiral up and around the outside of the bush. Weave the strand into the outer branches so the bulbs sit in the foliage, not on top of it.
3. Keep the spacing even. Step back to the curb after the first strand and check for dark spots before starting the next one.
4. Connect strand to strand on the back side of the bush. Keep every connection off the ground.
5. Run the cord to the next bush along the mulch bed, not across the walkway.

Net light sequence

1. Unfold the net on the ground and find the plug end. Lay that end nearest the power.
2. Lift the net by the top edge and drape it over the bush like a sheet. Let it settle. Do not pull it tight.
3. Tuck the bottom edge under the outer branches so the grid holds without stakes or ties.
4. On hedges, overlap the next net at the seam and keep the plugs on the same side.

Put the whole bed on the same timer as the roofline so the house comes on as one display. Setting the timer for dusk to 11 pm on every job keeps the look consistent and cuts callbacks. At takedown, lift nets straight up and fold them in the bed. Unwind wraps in reverse. Never yank. A torn boxwood is a callback you cannot fix with a new bulb.

How Do You Price and Sell Bush Lighting as an Add-On?

Quote bushes by the strand, not by the bush. Bushes and shrubs run $30 to $50 per strand dressed. A large bush can take 3 strands, so pricing per bush leaves money on the table. Count a net as a strand for quoting. Takedown is included in that price and never shows up as a separate line item.

Selling it is easier than pricing it. On the walkthrough, stand at the driveway with the customer and look at the house the way a visitor would. Ask what they want people to notice first. Then point at the dark hedge under the lit roofline. The gap sells itself. The walkthrough questions that turn estimates into booked jobs work the same way on bushes as they do on the roofline.

Bushes also open the door to the rest of the bed. Once the customer sees the shrubs lit, stakes along the walk and a wreath in the gable are the natural next ask. Here is how those add-ons quote side by side.

Wreaths go on the gable wall near the peak or over the garage doors, never on the front door by default and never on the roof. Lit bushes under a gable wreath frame the whole front of the house, and the ticket grows without adding a second trip.

Which Bush Light Should You Buy for This Season?

Buy 5mm wide angle LED mini lights in your core colors as your main bush light, in enough quantity to cover bushes, trees, and columns from one stock. Add LED net lights in the same colors for hedge rows and commercial beds. Keep a small amount of twinkle on the truck for the customers who want sparkle.

Christmas Lights HQ is the wholesale supply arm of the same ecosystem where I train 43,000+ contractors through ChristmasLights.io, and the catalog is set up for this split. Wraps come from the mini and string lights collection. Nets come from the LED net lights collection. Both are pro-grade product built to survive takedown and storage.

Order before the install calendar fills up. Bushes are the add-on customers ask for on install day, and a truck with no bush light on it says no to easy money. If you want the deeper breakdown on net light wire, colors, and the install sequence, the guide on which LED bush lights to stock picks up where this one leaves off.

One more thing from the years I spent running crews. The crew member who learns to wrap a bush clean is the same one who learns to wrap a tree clean. Train bushes first. They are low, safe, and forgiving, and the skill carries straight up the ladder.

What are you putting on bushes this season, nets or wraps, and what made you pick one over the other?