During the holiday season, some evergreen trees on Capital of Texas Hwy., also known as Loop 360, are lit up like Christmas trees as residents decorate them with holiday decorations.

Austin native Craig Wilkinson, who lives near the Arboretum, said that just a few years ago, only a few people decorated the trees compared with the dozens who do so now.

"I think it's lovely," he said. "It's a nice expression of people's sense of community and appreciation of the holiday season."

Kelli Reyna, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the department discourages people from parking their vehicles on the shoulder of Loop 360 and walking around to decorate trees because of safety issues.

However, this has not prevented residents from decorating a tree or taking photos. The weekend after Thanksgiving, Wilkinson stopped near Spicewood Springs Road to take photos and admire the trees. Several other residents were also capturing the tradition with their cameras.

The evergreen trees that people decorate are junipers and are commonly referred to as cedar trees, said Daphne Richards from the Travis County office of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The tradition of decorating the junipers likely started a few years ago, although no one can pinpoint a year. This year, residents started decorating the trees in early November. The majority of decorated evergreens are located between US 183 and FM 2222.

Decorations include traditional Christmas—and even Hanukkah—decorations of tinsel, ornaments and ribbons. Other residents got creative with handmade decorations such as one tree that featured ladybugs made from recycled two-liter soft drink bottles and colored duct tape. Another tree sported blue and yellow plastic cups that were fastened together to resemble the Minions from the "Despicable Me" movies. One tree is decked in pink for breast cancer awareness.

Round Rock resident Leeann Trisch said she and her family have been decorating trees for two years now. They make sure to return and clean up the decorations when the holiday season is over.

"Can you imagine if nobody came back to clean it up?" she said.

She picked out sparkly turquoise, pink and orange decorations from a discount store for her daughters and granddaughter to put on their tree.

"I think it's the coolest thing ever," Trisch said. "I'm from Michigan, and we don't do this up there."