Use Fairy Lights in a Container Garden

This year I planted Mandevilla in the spring/summer container gardens I planted for my mom. I just replaced those summer plants with fall mums, pansies, decorative cabbage, and snapdragons for the fall.

Since the Mandevilla vine isn’t dead yet, I left it and the small trellises in the pots. After all, the fall weather sometimes surprises us with bouts of warm temperatures. I like to leave seasonal plants in the ground as long as possible in case we get an extra blooming period.

Even though there won’t be anything growing on the trellis for long, I like the height they add to the overall display. To make them more of a focal point than an eyesore in the fall, I added battery-operated fairy lights to the trellises. The lights will be perfect for the upcoming holidays, adding just a little magic to her garden at night.

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When my niece and nephew came to visit, we took them outside just before bedtime to see the lights. It was a nice family moment and the kids really enjoyed the magical lights.

I love the look of small string lights or LED lights outdoors year-round. It adds a bit of romance or magic to the night, especially under an arbor or large trellis. I think we’ll leave these lights in the container gardens for each season.

Review of the Battery-Powered Fairy Lights

Just calling them ‘fairy lights’ imbues a sense of magic and mystique. These tiny little battery-powered LED lights are attached via a thin metal wire that makes it easy to wrap them around things and keep them in place.

Even better – there is a timer setting. You can either turn the lights on and off as you wish or set the timer option on and let them run for 6 hours.

This string of lights is about 20 feet long, providing ample lighting for a small trellis like mine.

Pros

• No outlets required. This is great because you can put these lights in just about any location around your house or garden.
• Set it and forget it. A timer setting allows you to turn on the lights for 6 hours and 18 hours off.
• The lights are water resistant (not the battery pack!). A necessary element for any outdoor lights.
• The 3 AA batteries should last several months when using the timer.

Battery-Operated Fairy Lights

Cons

• Thin wire like this can be difficult to continually move to different locations. We haven’t had these for long, but based on my experience with thin wiring like this, I’m guessing that the more you flex the wire, the more fragile and prone to breaking it will become. I suspect there is a limited wrap/unwrap period on the wire – especially if you create a distinct kink in the line. This won’t be a problem if you are wrapping them around something that you plan on leaving them on. But if you want to move the lights regularly, you might want to look for something with more flex.
• You will need to replace the batteries. I’m not sure if this is really a con, but this is the only maintenance you will need to do if you are using the timer function on these micro lights.

Tips For Setting Up the Fairy Lights

If you are winding these tiny lights around something like a trellis, remove the lights from the roll and wind them into a loose coil that will fit in your hand and is small enough to pass through the tiniest opening in your trellis. Start at the bottom, where you can rest the battery pack, and then finish with the opposite end of the string of lights.

These lights are very tiny. For a more impressive look, run the lights over the same spot more than once to have more concentrated light. I used 20 feet of lights on this small trellis, and it looks great!

Overall, I think this is a great look, and its ease of setup and use is great for any gardener. I do not know how well these will withstand winter weather conditions. We don’t get snow very often, but if we did, I suspect I would have to be much more careful about where I placed the battery pack so that it would not sit in the snow.

Battery-Operated Fairy Lights

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