"Light the tree from the top down working in sections rather than round and round the tree," says Barnhardt. "Work the lights in toward the trunk of the tree, and then back out to the tip of the next branch, securing it by slipping the tip between the two wires of your strand of lights. When it's time to take the lights away, just pull gently on the cord for each section. To get the lighting evenly placed on your tree, step back, squint your eyes to make things blurry and look for dark spots. Rearrange or add lights as needed. These techniques work well on our towering trees at Biltmore and on my little seven-foot fresh tree at home." Photo courtesy of Biltmore Estates.
