So, your thinking about hiring a professional installer this year to decorate your house with Christmas lights for the holidays. 

Some people love the challenge and creativity of installing their own lights. If that’s you, great! But, if the idea of climbing on your roof with strings of lights fills you with dread, keep reading. We’ll give you some tips on hiring a great installer that will have your house looking like a Christmas card for the holiday season. 

1. Don’t settle for the lowest bid

I know it’s tempting to save a couple of dollars and go with the lowest bid. However, we all know the trisum “you get what you pay for.” The cheapest installers are probably cheap for a reason, maybe multiple reasons. You will most likely be compromising on design and installation experience. You also might run into some reliability issues, possibly with the lights and with the service. Avoid hiring people whose prices are too good to be true – they usually are. 

2. Make sure they are insured

Installing Christmas lights inherently comes with risk, both to the installer and to your property. Don’t be shy about asking if your installer carries insurance and the extent of the insurance carried. Asking isn’t insulting to the installer – it shows that you are a careful customer who wants to be sure that there is protection if there is any damage or injury. 

3. Ask about where they source their lights

Knowing where your installer buys their lights will give you a clear idea about the quality that you’ll be getting. Professional grade Christmas lights are a higher quality than what you will find in most stores. Installers that buy their lights a box store might not be as experienced and you might be the one to stuck with quality problems that pop up. 

4. Pay only a reasonable amount upfront

It’s common to pay a portion of the project upfront, but if your installer needs more then half, consider going elsewhere. If the installer is requiring more before starting, it’s a red flag that should warn you away.

5. Ask for references

Anyone who’s good at their job should have happy customers, lots of them, and they should be more than willing to share those references with you. There is no plausible reason an installer would be unwilling to send you a list of references.

6. Ask about problem resolution policies

No matter how professional and experienced the installer is, sometimes things come up and there are problems after installation. An experienced installer will recognize that and have policies in place to resolve those issues. The most important thing to know upfront is if the installer is willing to come back for any lights that go out or similar issues and how much they charge.

8. Avoid solo installers

Obviously Christmas installation is seasonal and most installers do other forms of work during the rest of the year. What you want to avoid is the person installing lights out of the back of his pickup just to make a little holiday cash. Go with a professional that is established and has a team ready to handle your job in a professional and timely manner. 

Beautiful Christmas lights take planning

No matter who you hire to install your holiday lights this year, planning will be involved. Most quality, professional installers quickly fill up and you want to make sure they have time to create a Christmas lighting plan for your home. 

Choosing Great Goats Landscaping to install your Christmas lights

Great Goats Landscaping has been helping decorate homes and businesses for the Christmas season for years. We are an insured, locally owned team that has the design experience to make your home look it’s best this year. 

We offer free consultations and would love to talk with you about giving you the holiday house you’ve been dreaming about. 

Even though we’re professional landscapers who love fancy and eye-catching plants and flowers, we understand that sometimes you need some low-maintenance perennials in your yard to add color and life without requiring a lot of attention. 

Our favorite perennials

There are countless low-maintenance perennials that will thrive in our area and enough variety for any landscaping project. We especially like the ones that produce wonderful blooms and stand-out foliage. Here are some of our favorites.

Coneflowers

A native to the midwest, coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) bloom most of the summer. They are between 16 inches to 4 feet and come in multiple colors and varieties. They are also pollinator flowers that will attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Lenten rose

Lenten rose loves the shade and often blooms before the snow has melted. Flowers are purple, red, almost black, white, pink and green. Plants grow to about a foot tall and 18 inches wide and are easy to enjoy when planted along a walkway.

Virginia bluebells

Another spring flower, Virginia bluebells have pink buds that blossom into pink-purple blooms. They thrive in sun or in shade and easily reseed themselves. Plant them behind a summer bloomer to hide their foliage that turns brown and fades by June.

Black-eyed Susans

Another pollinator, black-eyed Susans bloom in August. They are bright yellow flowers with a black center, love full sun and reach about 3 feet tall.

Phlox

Tall with large clusters of flowers, phlox is a stand-out pollinator that flowers in late summer. It comes in a variety of colors from white to purple and prefers well-drained soil and full sun. 

Butterfly weed

Don’t be put off by the name – butterfly weed is easy to grow and is another flower that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. It has orange, yellow, pink or vermillion flowers in mid- to late summer.

Looking to add some low-maintenance perennials to your yard? Give Great Goats Landscaping a call today to talk with one of our experts about how low-maintenance perennials can be incorporated into your landscaping.