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Decorators in heavy demand for the holidays.

More Christmas lights and ornaments adorn the city each holiday season. All it takes is a lot of help from some enterprising business owners.

The business of decorating for Christmas is a burgeoning industry that many NY/NJ homeowners and business owners couldn't survive the holidays without. There are about 100 area businesses that offer Christmas decorating services.

Once considered a privilege reserverd for affluent residents who traditionally have hired professionals to decorate their mansion and grounds for special occasions, seasonal decorating business are flourishing, as the middle class increasingly demands their help bringing the festivity of Christmas to their homes.

As with most trends this century, it's the time-starved baby boomers who have created a huge need for businesses that design, install and remove colorful lights, ornaments, fresh wreaths, garlands and Christmas trees from the front yard to their family rooms.

We have seen an increase in demand for commercial and residential Christmas lighting services in recent years, but it all boils down to they just don't have time to string lights on their houses and trees.

About 50 residents in the area who have seen Plant Power's work quickly hired us to hang lights on their houses.

"We had been watching that Chevy Chase movie, 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' that has the famous scene where he discovers this huge knot of Christmas lights stored in his garage." "That big knot is everyone's nightmare. I eliminate the knot and other problems associated with lighting up your house for Christmas."

Prices range from $250 for stringing lights around the trunk of one tree to $5,000, which covers the cost of lighting the exterior of one of the city's larger houses and all the trees on the front lawn.

Plant Power's crews of workers have been installing exterior lights on homes and subdivision entrances nonstop since Nov. 1 Over the next few weeks, they'll work day and night stringing lights on the roof lines, columns and trees in the front lawns of about 90 houses and 30 entryways to some of the city's most exclusive gated communities.

They'll stop hanging lights Dec. 15, take a short break and on Jan. 6 return to remove the lights, which are leased to customers. Plant Power owns all the lights we install for quality control purposes.

This season, people will notice that Christmas lights are brighter , more durable and more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent holiday lights. This is the first year that commercial LED lights have been on the market.

Most commercial decorators have switched to the LED lights because of their brilliance and reliability.

Setting up Christmas decorations for clients was a natural extension of the company's primary interior landscaping service.

In addition to designing and maintaining plants for commercial clients, including most of the city's banks, hotels, malls and large office buildings, the company also installs holiday lights and decorations for most of its clients.

"One of our customers asked us several years ago if we could decorate their building's interior for the Christmas holidays." It grew from there. Now, we design and make some of the decorations, which we lease to the customers. We have a 20,000 square-foot warehouse where we keep the decorations and lights year round."

The majority of our clients need Christmas trees, wreaths and centerpieces for their lobbies and lighting along their roof lines. The company hires 100 seasonal employees to help with the installation of decorations, which began Nov. 15.

Crews working at night after customers and employees have left, have installed more than 400,000 colored LED lights on the rooftops and trees. They recently added 18 large silver stars designed and manufactured in Costa Rica at focal points throughout the property.

Well more than 2,000 labor hours have gone into the holiday project at the retail center.

"It's been a lot of work, but very exciting for us." "We've been out there since Nov. 1 working on all of this. But the end product looks spectacular.

Plant Power has been helping scores of owners of the city's older and larger houses prepare for the holiday season.

"The clients who need our help decorating their houses for the holidays are the same clients I've helped with weddings, parties and all their floral needs.". "They come to me because they don't want to do the decorating or just don't have the time and because they want that professional look to their holiday decor.

Preparing a large house for the holidays entails the purchase and decoration of as many as three 10-to-12 foot Christmas trees; fresh garlands for the mantles, staircases and exterior balconies; wreaths for the front door and other areas inside the house; and large poinsettia plants placed throughout the home.

Work on designing, buying materials and making the decorations begins in the summer months, when we meet with each client to talk themes and color combination. A team of four or five assistants begin setting up the decorations the Friday after Thanksgiving. They return in the new year to remove and store decorations for the next season.

Usually clients want to change the design or colors every three years. Some of these decorations can be very ornate. Some wreaths we design can cost $375. The cost always depends on just what the client wants.

Decorating a large house from top to bottom can cost as much as $12,000. Trimming a Christmas tree with a client's collection of ornaments, which can take four people as long as five hours to complete, runs about $1,200.

One of his longtime clients said her job as a personal assistant for local entrepreneur keeps her so busy that she has to come to rely on Plant Power to decorate her family's Christmas tree, design wreaths, prepare gift baskets for friends and business associates, and anything else she needs to bring her home alive for the holidays.

"It can be expensive, but it is worth it," said the woman, who is in her early 40's. "It's comforting to know I can just call him and tell him what I need this season. They do such great stuff. I can trust their taste and good judgment."