The best Christmas net lights for bushes

For an ordinary front-yard shrub, the iBaycon 4 by 6 ft net - the standard size for a standard bush, connectable, and the only budget net here that states a timer. For a hedge rather than a bush, the shape changes the answer: the Dazzle Bright 12 by 5 ft lies along a run where a square net has to be folded.

Net lights are bought by the wrong number more often than any other holiday product. People compare LED counts across nets of different sizes, which tells you nothing - 100 LEDs on 4 by 6 ft and 360 on 12 by 5 ft are almost the same density. The number that matters is the mesh dimension against the plant you are covering, and that is what the table leads with.

Wind a string onto a bush and you are following branches. The wire takes the path the plant offers, which means it lights the outside of a few limbs in a spiral and leaves the gaps between them dark. From the sidewalk the result reads as a lit edge, not a lit plant, and it takes a surprising amount of a December afternoon to achieve.

A net is a fixed grid. Thrown over the same shrub it sits at an even spacing across the whole visible surface, which is why a netted bush reads as a glowing shape and a wound bush reads as tinsel. It also comes off in one movement in January, which is the half of holiday lighting nobody photographs.

The limit is shape. A net wants something roughly convex and roughly its own size. On a tree trunk, a railing or a roofline it is the wrong tool entirely - those are string jobs, covered in outdoor Christmas string lights and sized in how many Christmas lights.

1. Mesh size against a real plant. 4 by 6 ft for a round shrub, long and shallow for a hedge. Everything else follows from this.
2. A stated LED count and lamp size. Two listings here state 5mm wide-angle lamps, which is the commercial landscape standard. Most state neither.
3. Connectability and its stated limit. A front yard is rarely one net, and the manufacturer's maximum run is the number to respect.
4. A timer, where it exists. Only one budget net here states one.

We did not test these; every figure is the listing's own. No net in this category publishes a lumen or kelvin figure, and this page does not invent one.

iBaycon 4 x 6 ft net lights - the pick. The standard mesh for a standard shrub, warm white, connectable, with eight modes and a stated timer, at the lowest price here.
Who it is for: one or two ordinary front-yard bushes. Who should skip it: anyone covering a long hedge - this will fold, and folds show.
Cons: no LED count stated for the single pack; modes rather than dimming; no lumen or kelvin figure; too small for a mature shrub.

Wintergreen Lighting 100 LED net - the one that states what it is. 100 5mm wide-angle LEDs on green wire, 4 by 6 ft, from a lighting supplier rather than a seasonal seller.
Who it is for: a display you intend to put up for several years, and anyone who wants to know the lamp size before buying. Who should skip it: anyone buying for one season - you are paying more than twice the budget net for build quality you may not need.
Cons: no timer and no modes; dearest per square foot; 100 LEDs is sparser than the budget nets; no lumen or kelvin figure.

Dazzle Bright 360 LED, 12 x 5 ft - for a hedge, not a bush. The long, shallow mesh with the densest grid here, connectable, eight modes, waterproof rating stated.
Who it is for: a hedge run, a bank, or a low wall planting. Who should skip it: anyone with one round bush - it will bunch at the sides.
Cons: wrong shape for a single shrub; modes rather than dimming; no lumen or kelvin figure; a dense grid on a small plant reads as a lit rectangle.

ZUIOMNIY 180 LED, 10 x 5 ft - the middle size. 180 5mm LEDs on a connectable 10 by 5 ft mesh - it states both the count and the lamp size, which most nets at this price do not.
Who it is for: a pair of medium shrubs either side of a path, from one net. Who should skip it: anyone who wants a timer or modes - this states neither.
Cons: no timer; awkward shape for one small bush; marketplace brand; no lumen or kelvin figure.

Lomotech 150-count incandescent net - only to match what you own. The last incandescent net in general sale, 6 by 4 ft, connectable.
Who it is for: a display that is already incandescent, where an LED net next to it would look like a fault. Who should skip it: everyone starting fresh - the running cost and the shorter connectable runs are real.
Cons: far higher power draw than any LED net here; filament lamps fail individually; glass is fragile in storage and frost; no lumen or kelvin figure.