How to install STURDY cafe patio string lights without trees!
Installing these outdoor string lights was on my list for years after we moved into our house! The problem was, we had a new backyard with no mature trees to attach the lights to.
I had to figure out a way to hang these patio lights in a safe way so they would hold up to rain, wind and snow.
We had these outdoor cafe lights hanging from the pergola at our old house:
And then later had them hung from the trees over the back patio:
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We love these outdoor string lights in particular. They are sturdy, commercial-grade strands that hold up to everything. We kept them up in rain, wind and snow and they still look/work great today.
It helped that we had trees big enough to hold the weight of these — they are heavier than your average outdoor lights, but again…they last forever.
Knowing we were going to hang them over the new patio, I grabbed a couple boxes of the lights last year. I was really hoping to get them up last fall, but it didn't happen:
Because we don't have trees around the patio yet (and it would be years before they'd be strong enough to hold the light strands), we had to figure out a different option.
I've been researching this for a year because it was so important for this to a.) be functional, b.) look good and c.) not cost a fortune. I gathered info from a bunch of tutorials I found and then we had to make some more changes at the end I'll share with you. (Hint: the tutorials we found didn't work for the heavier lights!)
Let's get started! I'll list ALL of the items you'll need at the end of the post, but here are the step by step instructions.
Step 1: Gather the planters you'd like to use.
Some of the tutorials I found used wood wine barrel planters — but the ones I found either had large holes already drilled into the bottom or they weren't super sturdy. I was worried the concrete would ooze out between the slats of wood.
I bought three plastic planters for this project awhile back, but I decided they were too tall and not wide — you want something that has a wide base. We returned those and got these plastic barrel planters instead:
