Trees

Oak wilt is a serious disease and the best way to protect your trees is by pruning them only in the dormant season. No one is telling you to go outside on one of the coldest days of the year to prune your oaks, but this is a great time to look out the window, make a plan, study the long-term forecast and put it on your calendar. On this Horticulture Day, Iowa Department of Natural Resources district forester Mark Vitosh joins to share everything you need to know about pruning and dispel myths around exploding trees. Then, Aaron Steil joins to help answer your gardening questions.

Some trees, like oaks, need to be pruned during the dormant season to avoid diseases — though you'll likely want to wait for warmer winter days. Mark Vitosh, district forester with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, joins the show to talk about winter tree maintenance.

Have you got your Christmas tree yet? If you haven't, there's still enough time to check out your local ditch. In this bonus episode, we hear from one caller about his holiday tradition of sourcing his tree from the side of the road.

Snowstorms and cold temperatures dampened sales for many Christmas tree farms across the state. While the work is year-round, their retail season is typically condensed to a two or three week window in late November and early December.

On this Horticulture Day, DNR Forester Mark Vitosh is here to give us some insight into the industry that brings so many people joy this time of year. When you buy a Christmas tree at a farm, tree lot or store, you’re buying an agricultural product. More than 35 million Christmas Trees are harvested every year in the United States, and there are approximately 200 Christmas tree growers in Iowa. Later, horticulture expert Aaron Steil joins the conversation and the two give their advice on sprucing up your Christmas tree traditions and answer gardening questions.

When you buy a Christmas tree at a farm, tree lot, or store, you’re buying an agricultural product. More than 35 million Christmas trees are harvested every year in the United States, and there are approximately 200 Christmas tree growers in Iowa. DNR Forester Mark Vitosh is here to give us some insight into the industry that brings so many people joy this time of year. To further grow your gardening knowledge, sign up for our Garden Variety newsletter.

Storage, sauce and cider. There are a number of ways that we can continue to savor the tastes of apple season into the winter months.

Raking leaves is a classic fall chore, but those leaves could be put to good use.

All you need to know about changing leaves and Autumn color

To properly manage a tree, you need to know what species it is. Plus, tree identification is a lot of fun.