How to Make Holiday Garland From Foraged Greenery

Draped over fireplace mantels and hung from fence posts, fluffy greenery garland is a holiday decorating staple — and nothing beats the look of the real thing. We made this beautiful (and quick!) DIY swag by tying foraged cypress and pine clippings onto an inexpensive faux garland, then decorated it with craft-store berries and oversized burlap bows.

The best part about this holiday DIY? It's basically free. All you need to make a full, lush swag are evergreen clippings from your backyard (or a very nice neighbor's) and cheap faux greenery garland (our favorite $5 pick is linked below). We used pine and Leyland cypress, but any evergreen will work. Once you've gathered all your greenery, clip it into 9-inch-long sections, then pile the sections into bunches of two to three pieces per bunch, making sure to vary the types of greenery in each bunch. For a nine-foot garland, you'll need between 20-25 bunches.

A nine-foot, wired faux garland (linked below) serves as the base for our swag and adds extra fullness to the finished product.

Starting at one end of the garland, place the stems of a single bunch of greenery in between two wired stems.

Twist the wired stems tightly around the greenery stems two or three times, pulling tightly as you twist. Once secure, tuck and hide the cut stems underneath the previously attached bunch.

Continue tying and tucking until you reach the end of the faux garland, leaving a greenery overhang of three to four inches. Now you're ready to hang! We connected three nine-foot pieces by twisting the wired ends together, then attached to our fence using 22-gauge floral wire.

For a dash of color and to hide the spots where the garland is wired to the fence, we hand-tied two burlap bows (one plain, one plaid) to each other, then attached them to the fence with floral wire.

For a farmhouse-inspired touch, we tied rustic metal bell ornaments just under the bows.

Oversized faux red berries add a burst of color you can see from the road. We cut large floral picks into six-inch pieces and tucked them throughout the garland.

This step is totally optional but highly encouraged. We picked up some inexpensive white pom-pom strands at the craft store and twisted them throughout the garland for a pop of festive texture.

Step back frequently to check for consistency in your design. Make sure berries are dispersed evenly, pom-poms are twisted just right and the swags hang at the same height.

Spritz your greenery lightly with water about once a week throughout the holiday season. Fresh garland can last up to two months outdoors in cool climates or about a month indoors.