Twig and light trees

Not a substitute for a tree, a different kind of light

A microdot or twig tree has no foliage. What you see is a cone or a branching frame carrying LEDs so close together that at night the shape is drawn entirely in light. By day it is a slender white or black sculpture. People use them either side of a front door, on a balcony, in a hallway, beside a conventional tree in a large room, or as the only tree in a flat with no space for a 1.2m footprint.

LED counts

These trees carry far more lights than a pre-lit foliage tree of the same height because there is nothing to hide them. The 4ft Twinkling White Microdot Tree has 500 warm white LEDs at £79; the 6ft has 1,300 at £129; the 7ft has 1,700 at £159. The 6ft Black Microdot with 1,300 static dewdrop LEDs at £119 is the darker version for a modern scheme. Most sets twinkle or fade in sequence and have a timer.

Indoor and outdoor

Twenty-six of the 38 are rated for indoor and outdoor use, with a weatherproof transformer and sealed LEDs, and six are outdoor only. Stand them on a hard surface and shelter the transformer, ideally inside a weatherproof box. The indoor-only trees, including the 1.5ft and 2ft tabletop versions, should stay inside.

Colours

Thirty-five of the 38 are warm white. There is one pink, one white, and one that mixes warm and cool white. Frames come in white, black and natural wood effect, and the frame colour matters by day as much as the light does at night.