The holiday season is here, which means decorating your home with lots of fresh greens including decorated Christmas trees, perfectly placed mantelpieces, fragrant evergreen garlands, and welcoming swags and wreaths on our front doors.

Unfortunately, we’ll also be looking at drying winter winds and scalding, reflective sun. We protect ourselves with puffy jackets, woolly socks, fleecy gloves, and cozy hats and scarves. As you walk out your door, all bundled up, look over at the beautiful evergreen trees and shrubs you planted this season. Similarly, when you go to decorate your home with live greens for the holidays, you want them to last all season! Luckily, there’s a simple and easy solution…Wilt-Pruf! Wilt-Pruf is an anti-transpirant or anti-desiccant – it keeps your planted and cut evergreens from drying out and is so easy to use. Don’t spray when it’s bright and sunny, wait for an overcast day. Wilt-Pruf is great at protecting live evergreens from winter weather but it is also perfect for keeping fresh-cut holiday greens looking beautiful. Even better, it is made locally in Essex, CT. Best yet, it never expires!

In the winter, evergreens, in particular, suffer from drying winds, frozen ground, and hot sun. Plants that hold their leaves (needles) suffer the worst. The ground is frozen, so the roots cannot take up the water the plant needs to keep the needles plump with moisture. The drying winds suck all the water right out of the needles and to add insult to injury, the sun comes out and bakes the already drying needles.

Wilt-Pruf is best applied starting around Thanksgiving for outside plants and any time for your cut greens. Coat your evergreen trees and shrubs, spray down your wreaths, door swags, mantelpieces, and kissing balls. Do the first coat before temperatures are consistently in the freezing zone. Then reapply when temperatures peak back up to the ’40s.

Get the most out of your holiday decorations from Van Wilgen’s and protect your precious evergreen investments. It’s simple… just Wilt-Pruf them.

Hint: To protect more than just your evergreens, try using Wilt-Pruf on Hydrangeas and Rose canes to get them through the harsh winter months.

We’re just a couple of days away from the official start of fall which has us looking forward to Autumn colors, decorating our front porches with pumpkins, cornstalks, and mums, and all of the fun fairs and activities that the new season has to offer.

With everything going on, it can be easy to forget about your garden, but good news! We have an updated, easy fall checklist you can reference throughout the season to make sure your yard is in its best shape before winter hits.

Be sure to stop by Van Wilgen’s for all the plants and supplies you need. We’re here to help!