How to Hang an Evergreen Garland Around Your Door

Front view of a door with garland

The Spruce / Olivia Inman

Project Overview
  • Working Time: 1 - 2 hrs
  • Total Time: 1 - 2 hrs
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Estimated Cost: $15 to $50

Some people shun ornamentation dripping with glitz and glitter in favor of simple, low-key outdoor evergreen decorations. Evergreen roping is restrained, but it can still bring a festive mood to your winter landscaping.

If you wish to dress it up further while still staying natural, you can add cones to your roping, as you would when decorating a kissing ball. But the real challenge is in hanging it without causing property damage.

Before Getting Started

When hanging garland around a doorframe, making it stick to a wooden column, or attaching it to the clapboard siding of a house wall, it is essential to do as little damage as possible to your structure.

Holiday seasons come and go, and you don't want to wind up with permanent damage when the decorations come down. 

Damage when hanging garland around a door is typically caused by hammering in nails or large staples. This practice can easily leave you with split wood. Split wood allows moisture in, which results in rot.

Before hanging a garland around a door or column you'll need to pre-drill, making a pilot hole. You can then screw in screw-eyes or large ceiling hooks from which your garland will hang.

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • Cordless drill and appropriate bits
  • Staple gun (if needed)

Materials

  • Screw-eyes
  • Ceiling hooks
  • Evergreen garland
  • Wires or twist-ties
  • Vinyl siding hooks or suction cup hooks (if needed)
  • Stick-on hooks or metal garland hangers (if needed)

Instructions

Overhead view of materials for hanging garland

The Spruce / Olivia Inman

  1. Hang Garland on Porch Columns

    If you are hanging your greenery on porch columns, one screw-eye at the top and one at the bottom may be sufficient, since you have gravity working with you. Start from the top and work your way down to the bottom in a spiral. Wrap the garland tightly as you go.

    Wrapping garland around a pole

    The Spruce / Olivia Inman

    Tip

    Make sure to trim garland with scissors or wire cutters before hanging to ensure your desired look

  2. Hang Garland on a Door Frame

    For a door frame, you will probably want to install more screw-eyes or ceiling hooks (it will depend, in part, on how heavy your Christmas garlands are). If you have downspouts, take advantage of them by tying the garland around them.

    Hanging hooks around the door frame

    The Spruce / Olivia Inman

  3. Use Ceiling Hooks

    Simply hang the garland right over the hook. There is less work involved this way. The trade-off, however, is that the garlands will not be quite as secure. To hang garlands from a column in this fashion, you will need several ceiling hooks, which means making more holes in your wood (something that is generally to be avoided if you can help it).

    Draping garland around the door frame

    The Spruce / Olivia Inman

  4. Use Screw-Eyes

    If you will be using screw-eyes, then you will need pieces of wire, twist-ties, etc. to finish securing your garlands. Just thread a wire or a twist-tie through each screw-eye, then tie the wire around the Christmas garland.

    Adding screw eyes to the door frame

    The Spruce / Olivia Inman

  5. Attach to Other Types of Material

    Sometimes, you will need to attach the garland to a material other than wood. Decorating a house sided with vinyl is more challenging than decorating a home sided with wooden shingles or clapboard. Ask for vinyl siding hooks at a home improvement store, and be sure that the package they come in explains how to use them. Failing that, buy suction cup hooks.

    Using suction hooks on the house windows

    The Spruce / Olivia Inman

  6. Attach Garland Without Drilling Holes

    If out of an abundance of caution, you don't want to put any holes at all in the doorframe of your house, there are still ways to hang garland there. Two of the most popular include stick-on hooks and metal garland hangers.

    Stick-on hooks are less expensive; they adhere to a doorframe thanks to a sticky strip on their backs, which is exposed when you remove the liner. Metal garland hangers cost more, but they also offer a quality look that allows you to leave them in place even after you remove your garlands. They attach with the principle of spring-tension, so it's easy both to install and remove them.

    Using command hooks to attach garland

    The Spruce / Olivia Inman

Attaching Garlands to Decks and Other Structures

Some people use a staple gun to affix garlands to wood with small staples. This practice is especially common along the handrails of extensive decks. It is a method that is feasible with certain kinds of garland, but not with others.

You probably will not worry as much about causing harm when stapling to a deck railing, as opposed to your house, since such damage is easier to repair.

If you do not want to risk damaging even a deck railing, simply wind the roping tightly around the handrail and tie it off at the ends as securely as you can.

When garland has a horizontal structure such as a rail to support it, you can get away with having fewer attachments.

There are also other spots in the yard where you can be somewhat more free and easy about hanging garlands for the holidays (because any damage won't be catastrophic), including wooden arbors, wooden fences, and wooden sheds.

FAQ
  • What are some risk-free ways to hang a garland?

    Some risk-free ways to hang a garland include using adhesive hooks, using a mental garland hanger, invisible thread, or even being creative and using clear zip ties on a deck railing.