Yard Plotted to scale, promise

Christmas Tree Forest · Small Urban Postage Stamp

Christmas Tree Forest layout for a Small Urban Postage Stamp

One idea, repeated. Trees at four or five different heights scattered at different depths, so the yard reads as a small wood rather than as a row of decorations. The easiest theme to get right and the easiest one to line up like fence posts by mistake.

your small urban postage stamp, 26′ × 26′ 5 of 8 spots filled
To-scale site plan for a Small Urban Postage StampA to-scale overhead site plan of a small urban postage stamp, 26 feet of street frontage by 40 feet deep, with the house set back 12 feet from the front sidewalk. The street runs along the top of the drawing. 5 of 8 marked positions are filled. Filled: the star, the stoop side, fence and path lights, doorway and facade, under the porch roof. Left empty: along the eaves, porch posts and rail, the front door. STREETHOUSE4 STEPS26'Amax 7'Bmax 6.5'CDPmax 8'TRWmax 6.7'

Drawn to scale. Everything is measured in feet from the front sidewalk, and your front door is 80″ tall if you need something to check against.

this theme on this shape

Christmas Tree Forest fills 4 of this shape's 8 marked spots for free, and 7 of them once every budget is unlocked.

With everything unlocked, one spot stays empty because the piece that filled it has been pulled by its retailer: porch posts and rail.

The one nice thing version comes in at $244.55 against a $500 ceiling on this shape, which leaves real room for a second run of lights or a better centrepiece.

Not your yard?

Same yard, different look

first, the deal with your yard

Read this before you buy anything

You have about twelve feet, a fence, and a stoop. Everything is seen from four feet away by people on foot, which changes the rules completely. Finish quality matters more than size, because nobody is squinting at this from a car. Buy one nice thing instead of four cheap ones. The fence is the secret weapon: it is a ready-made line at exactly the right height, and lighting it makes the whole frontage look deliberate for about thirty dollars.

Who's looking, and from where

  • Four feet away, over the fence, on foot
  • Down the sidewalk in a row of other houses
  • From the stoop looking out, which is where you will actually be

The classic mistake

Buying at the same scale as a suburban yard. A 9 ft inflatable in a 12 ft setback is not festive, it is a wall.

Check this one thing

Keep the public sidewalk completely clear, including guy lines and cords. In most cities that strip is not yours, and a tripping hazard on it is your liability. Check whether your building has rules about the front elevation too.

same yard, four budgets

Pick your number

Every version below was worked out against the map up there, and nothing gets a spot unless it physically fits. Footprint and height both. The Do it yourself version is free and complete, so you can go do that today. The other three are the paid guide.

Every price below was checked on or after 27 September 2026, and each item carries its own date. Holiday pricing moves weekly.

Do it yourself Free

stays under $250
$144.67 $105.33 to spare

One weekend, a sheet of plywood and some string lights. Costs almost nothing and still stops traffic.

The Do it yourself plan: every piece, its spot on the drawing, how big it is, how many and what it costs.
Spot What to get How big How many Cost
A Tomato Cage Trees Build it
The star. Build at least three and put them at different distances from the sidewalk, tallest furthest back, with one set slightly apart from the other two. The spacing is what makes this read as a wood rather than as three cones somebody bought.
 4' H 1 $54
B 11 in. Solar Flickering Lantern (opens in a new tab) Amazon 2 pieces
The stoop side. One piece on the open side of the steps. You get one, not a pair. Trying to squeeze in a matching second one just makes the path impassable.
 11" H 1 $39.99
C Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab) Amazon 10 pieces
Fence and path lights. Along the top of the front fence and up the short path. The fence line is the longest straight run you own. Use it.
 1' 3" H 1 $24.69
D Warm White Incandescent Mini Lights, 300 count (opens in a new tab) Amazon 300 pieces
Doorway and facade. Frame the door and windows rather than chasing a roofline you cannot safely reach. On a narrow facade, outlining the openings does more than a gutter run would anyway.
 2" H 1 $25.99
the plug situation

1 thing needs an outlet, about 1 amps all together. That all fits on one 15 amp circuit, you are fine. Outdoor GFCI outlets only, and leave a drip loop in the cord at every plug so rain runs off instead of in.

You will also need

The cord is the part everybody forgets, and stores run out of them at the peak of every season. Outdoor rated only, and plugged into a GFCI outlet.

About $31.96 of hardware, on top of the $144.67 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.

Print this version (opens in a new tab) build plan included
Image prompt for this exact list
Photorealistic evening photograph of a narrow two-story urban row house with a raised stoop house on a small urban postage stamp, 26 ft of street frontage with a 12 ft front setback, photographed from the public sidewalk immediately outside the front fence, close in, showing the small fenced yard and the stoop, camera height 5.5 ft. The yard is decorated in a christmas tree forest theme. One idea, repeated. Trees at four or five different heights scattered at different depths, so the yard reads as a small wood rather than as a row of decorations. The easiest theme to get right and the easiest one to line up like fence posts by mistake. Decorations, in position: 1. The star: three lit cone-shaped trees of different heights standing in a loose group on a dark lawn, each wound with a spiral of small warm lights, 4 ft tall. Build at least three and put them at different distances from the sidewalk, tallest furthest back, with one set slightly apart from the other two. The spacing is what makes this read as a wood rather than as three cones somebody bought. 2. The stoop side: a squat black lantern with thick glass sides and a flickering candle flame inside, sitting on the ground beside a step, 0.9 ft tall. One piece on the open side of the steps. You get one, not a pair. Trying to squeeze in a matching second one just makes the path impassable. 3. Fence and path lights: a line of short stake lights glowing softly along the edge of a walkway, no cords running between them, 1.3 ft tall. Along the top of the front fence and up the short path. The fence line is the longest straight run you own. Use it. 4. Doorway and facade: a dense run of tiny warm white bulbs following a roofline, close enough together to look like a continuous line of light, 0.2 ft tall. Frame the door and windows rather than chasing a roofline you cannot safely reach. On a narrow facade, outlining the openings does more than a gutter run would anyway. Shot at dusk with the sky still faintly blue, every lit decoration switched on and brighter than anything else in the frame, warm light spilling onto the lawn. Palette: #2F6E52, #1E4535, #E8B14A, #F2EDD8. Nothing floats; every piece sits on the ground at the stated distance. Scale reference: the front door is 80 inches tall.

see it first

The other two prompts

Each budget above has its own prompt for the finished yard, because each one is a different list of things. These two do not change between budgets: one for the empty yard so you have a before picture, and the negative prompt that stops every image model on earth from burying your lawn in snow you did not ask for.

the free ones keep coming

New plans go up through the season

The Do it yourself version above is free and complete, and every theme that goes up gets one, drawn for all ten yard shapes. That is 10 free plans per theme, and the list grows through the season.

One email when there is something new. Nothing else, ever.