How To Decorate A Christmas Tree – Expert Advice From Helen Watson At Ferndale Garden Centre

When it comes to how to decorate a Christmas tree, nobody knows better than the professionals who live and breathe Christmas all year round.

We sat down with Helen Watson from the family-run Ferndale Garden Centre, a Christmas decorating expert who plans her displays twelve months in advance, for her definitive guide to creating the most spectacular Christmas tree imaginable.

This is what Helen told us:

When Does Christmas Officially Start For A Professional Decorator?

Amazingly, it starts during the previous Christmas selling period. That’s when we start taking notes of successes, failures (there aren’t many), customer requests, ideas and trends. For the first time last December, we went to our main supplier to order for this Christmas. Yes, before Christmas. It’s a great time to go, as the current ranges, successes and not as successful product is fresh in our minds. Plus, as our main supplier is on the Dutch-German border, we can see how they celebrate Christmas too.

Which Goes On The Christmas Tree First – The Lights Or The Decorations?

Always the lights! If you can fasten the lights on first, you can create an even and satisfactory look. It’s always a good idea to give depth to the tree by pulling the wires backwards down the branches as well as on the outside of the tree. This gives the tree a 3d effect. Then you can add the decorations and again put some of them inside the tree,  so you can still see them but again give the tree depth.

How Many Lights Should Go On A Christmas Tree?

Our rule is: you can never have enough lights on a tree! Christmas lights are sold in sets of 100s, so that a set with 500 on sounds a lot, but on a 6’ tree, 500 looks amazing and not overfull. We have trees that are already lit when you buy them and customers are amazed when there are 500 lights on them. They love them too. With the introduction of ‘cluster’ lights a few years ago, you can swathe your tree with garland-like sets- 4m lengths might have 1500 ‘bulbs’ on them. It sounds expensive, but the price of larger sets has dropped dramatically, and because the modern ‘lights’ are LED (light-emitting diodes), you never need to replace the bulbs, and they use only 10% of the power of traditional lights. Oh, and another plus – you can also use these lights outside as well.

🔗Shop Premium LED Christmas Tree Lights — Amazon UK

One Colour Or Multicolour Christmas Tree Lights – Which Is Better?

It’s all personal choice. If you colour theme your tree, then white is perfect as you can use white with any colour theme. However, you will have to choose between cool white and warm white. Warm white looks like the traditional white lights of old.

Modern Or Traditional Christmas Decorations – Which Is Better?

It’s hard to say what’s modern or traditional now. A great amount of care is taken by some people to create ‘their look’, and for others it’s more about a family nostalgic look. Our early buyers tend to be planned and themed (and are very organised) people. Most of our customers have favourite pieces that have family memories associated with them. For them, their new decorations are added to the special pieces. My tree is full of memories.

What Are The Christmas Tree Decorating Trends?

Old Gold is going to be a trend this year in the UK. The traditional colours of Gold, Silver, and Red will always be the most popular, but the smart companies twist these to be on trend. That’s how Old Gold will feature this year.  For an update for the red traditional colour, the introduction of red tartan into some of the lines will give it a new look, and a touch of fur (fake, of course), will be dotted into wooden ranges.  Christmas for most people is about tradition, family, and nostalgia to varying degrees. This means that very new and perhaps outrageous themes are only popular with a few trend setters and sometimes suit businesses. If you are one of these, you need to choose and buy at the beginning of the display season, as the number of these lines is usually quite low.

We source from UK and continental designers. The best UK designers and suppliers know how far to push the innovative colours, and we have learnt not to get too carried away with some of the continental colour themes. These are often quite specific to certain regions. For example, Scandinavia loves red and white. The only way for us to use the red and white is to blend it with natural wood decorations.  Some years, very bright ‘acid’ colours are featured, but for the average ‘Brit’, that’s a bit too Un-Christmas.

Top Tips: How to Decorate a Christmas Tree

As trends tend to change gradually, rather than suddenly, retailers and consumers can mix the changes into their existing ranges. (see previous above HW)

If you have lots of pieces that you favour but want to theme as well, look at your decorations, pick your colour theme and leave out the decorations that don’t fit the theme. It works. We’ve mentioned putting the lights on first, then adding your decorations. Tinsel is personal too. Over the last few years, it’s made a comeback, probably because it’s a cheap filler. Perhaps it’s a recession thing too. Christmas nostalgia rules during hard times.

Real Or Artificial Christmas Tree – Which Is Better?

Both. Some years it’s real, some years it’s artificial (we like to call them artificial rather than fake). Funnily enough, the latest artificial trees look more real than the real ones. It’s quite incredible. One trend from the past few years (even in a recession) is homes with multiple trees. A family one in the lounge, a smaller, narrower one in the hall and small bright trees in children’s bedrooms are popular. Artificial trees are easy to use and don’t make a mess, so we often see more of these.

🔗 Pre-Lit Artificial Christmas Tree — Amazon UK

Key Tips For Making Your Christmas Tree Look Its Best

Real trees are like a woody ‘bunch of flowers’. They need water, even the needle-holding trees. Ideally, buy your tree a week before you decorate it, standing it outside in a bucket of water after cutting an inch from the trunk to unblock the tubes that allow the tree to drink. When you take your tree inside, use a stand that holds water and top it up daily. This keeps the tree fresh throughout the time in your home.

Artificial trees are easier, but they benefit from 24 hours upright in your home before decorating. This allows the heat of your home to soften the needles and let them fall naturally before decorating. We’ve known people who use a hair dryer in their tree to speed the operation up.
While decorating, keep standing back to check that the decorating is balanced and there aren’t any gaps. If your tree is in your window, make sure you decorate the portion seen from outside too.

🔗 Christmas Tree Water Stand — Amazon UK

What Does Christmas Mean To You?

Christmas, once I can have mine, is all about my family, my friends, my home and sharing. We make time to be with family and love the sharing on Christmas day as en masse we open our presents. It’s an important time for me to catch up with friends and share time together. The run-up to Christmas is so hectic with the initial set-up, display and then selling that I become a Christmas hermit and don’t see many people until we can start our Christmas at home. It’s worth it, though, to know that all our efforts help others have a festive Christmas.

Have you tried Helen’s tips for decorating your Christmas tree this year? We would love to hear how you get on – share your Christmas tree photos with us on social media using the tag #UnderTheChristmasTree – we share our favourites every December!

👉 Want to get ahead with your Christmas planning right now? Head to our Best Christmas Trees section for loads of inspo!