How To Fix the Bare Gaps in Your Christmas Tree

Learn how to fix the bare gaps in your Christmas tree for a more filled-out-looking tree this Christmas season.

If your Christmas tree has gaps and bare spots, this idea might help your tree look fuller and more joyful.

The Problem

Christmas trees are beautiful and they add such a vibrant expression of the Christmas spirit to the Christmas holiday season. However, Christmas trees (both artificial and fresh-cut trees) can sometimes have large, unsightly gaps and bare spots in their branches. These bare-looking gaps leave gaping holes that expose less appealing parts of the tree, such as the wires of built-in light, the metal frame of artificial trees, or the trunk and bare branches in real trees). This can leave artificial trees looking a bit “cheap” or real trees looking a little sickly, depending on the species of fir chosen as a Christmas tree.

An artificial Christmas tree with large gaps and bare spots. There are few branches and pine needles in the bare spot and gaps in the tree which makes it easy to see the middle portion of the trunk of the tree along with exposed wires from the built-in Christmas lights on this particular Christmas tree.

The Problem Solved!

Additional Artificial Pine Branches to Fix the Bare Gaps in Your Tree

Add in additional artificial pine branches

I went searching for possible solutions on Amazon.com and found these little artificial pine branches and sprigs. This was so exciting to me! I knew exactly what I was going to do to fix our bare Christmas tree problem. I ordered one set of artificial pine branches. The set of branches that I originally ordered came as a pack of 200 artificial branches. I also later found a set of 300 artificial pine branches and purchased those, too.

Twist the added pine branches around the existing tree branches

I took these little artificial pine branches and started twisting the long wire ends around the existing branches of our tree. I twisted each around any branches that were bare or smaller branches or sprigs that were near bare areas.

Move around and position the added pine branches

I was able to move those smaller branches and sprigs around slightly and position them so that the new branches that I had just twisted onto the existing branches could help fill in the bare spots in the tree.

I kept twisting and working in more new branches in any area that needed filling in or that looked a little too much like a “fake” tree.

Note: Yes, my Christmas tree is a “fake” / artificial tree, but I hold the philosophy that just because an tree might be an artificial one, it doesn’t mean it has to look like it 😉

A bare gap in an artificial Christmas tree with few branches or pine needles. The middle section of the trunk of the tree is exposed along with several wires from the built-in Christmas tree lights on this particular Christmas tree, which looks unsightly.

Placing additional artificial pine branch into an artificial Christmas tree.

How I Made My Artificial Christmas Tree and the Additional Branches Look More Natural

I moved each existing branch and each newly added branch around a little until each looked more natural in its placement, the area each was in was looking or starting to look full, and the tree, as a whole, looked right to me.

I also gently bent and curled and turned each of the existing artificial pine branches and also the newly added ones so that they each had a more natural shape to them, and looked less stiff and artificial.

A "before" picture of the bare gaps in an artificial Christmas tree where fewer branches and pine needles than the rest of the tree.

An "after" photo of an artificial Christmas tree, where the bare spots and gaps in the branches have been filled in with additional artificial pine branches.

The Results I Had with My Tree

Here is what the final result was. I took a picture in the evening when the tree was all lit up. The previously present gaps look so much less noticeable to me now. It looks full, and (dare I say) almost like a real tree!

Actually, from a few feet away, my tree now looks more “real” than many of the real Christmas trees that I’ve had in the past (they were all very bare, too, even though they were real trees!)

An artificial Christmas tree with the bare spots and gaps in the branches filled in with additional artificial pine branches. — My artificial Christmas tree after adding in additional artificial pine branches.

View My Tree (Before & After)

My Christmas Tree This Year – Before and After

I was so excited to set up our artificial Christmas tree this year on December 1st. That’s the earliest I have gotten around to it in years. But when I was in the process of assembling it, I started to remember that our tree is full of bare patches in the most unsightly areas. Namely, where you can see most of the wires from the lights (our tree is a pre-lit Christmas tree with lights built into it, so there are wires throughout the inner branches from the built-in lights).

Our Christmas tree was looking pretty “sad” to me and if I was within 6 feet of the tree the wires were very visible and distractingly unsightly.

The Solution for our Bare Christmas Tree

So I came up with an idea to solve my problem!

An artificial Christmas tree with bare spots and gaps in the branches of the tree.

Here’s a full view of our tree right now.

An artificial Christmas tree with the gaps between the branches filled in. The tree is lit up except for top of the tree, which needs repairing.

The top half isn’t working for some reason, and I just can’t figure out why…

A mischievous cat lays in the upper branches of an artificial Christmas tree (much to the dismay of the cat's owner). The upper part of the Christmas tree's lights are unlit and not working, presumably because they cat has climbed the tree and has caused a problem with the lights of the tree. The cat was gentle removed from the tree right after this picture was taken.

oh… maybe this might be why…

It’s a good thing I love this little fuzz ball! He looks cute (because he is) but he’s a mischievous little guy! But he also gives the best kitty snuggles. So there’s that, too. <3

An orange fluffy cat lays underneath a Christmas tree and looks up at the viewer peaking through the branches of the tree.

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