While power can be a premium when living off-grid, LED lights have made it possible to still have nice lights in your backyard without depleting your battery bank reserves. If you are thinking of or already have a couple of String lights, the next step should be hanging them up.
Here is a cool rustic idea to hang the lights up using readily available materials. This will help you keep the costs down while tying the lights to the picturesque cabin look.
What You Will Need
- The String Lights
- Some tough string or binding wire
- Identify a couple of trees
- Some tall slender poles if you have no trees
- A ladder
Using in-Place Trees to String up the Lights
- Identify a couple of trees, say three, in your backyard that are across the house
- Tie one end of the string lights (preferably the power connector end) to your cabin using a tough string
- Set a ladder securely next to the first tree. If there is a low branch, aim to pass the string light through it
- Otherwise, just loop some of the binding wire or tough string once around the tree trunk at a desired level and pass the string light through the string
- You could use a nail or clip for the above step but we don’t want to hammer anything into the trees
- Continue looping between the cabin and the rest of the trees until you achieve a desired pattern or run out of string light
Using Wood Poles
If there are no trees close to the cabin, you can still collect a couple of poles from the forest surrounding you and ‘plant’ your own.
- Look for dead wood to minimize your impact on the environment. You can use them as a whole or split them roughly to save material but still get the same rough-hewn look.
- Dig a 2-foot hole whose diameter is a-half of a foot wider than the pole you acquired
- Stash the pole into the hole and hold it horizontal
- Half-fill the hole with the soil you removed when digging then use a piece of stick to stamp it down firmly. This should hold the pole down
- Fill the rest of the soil and tamper it down
Alternatively, you can fill the hole with a concrete mix for a firmer and more permanent fix of the poles.
