Winter is the perfect time to prune oak trees. Oak trees are special for many reasons: they’re Iowa’s state tree, they’re important to our ecosystem and — they shouldn’t be pruned during the spring ...

Waiting until the leaves drop in fall is a rule of thumb for pruning shade trees, mainly because you can see bare limbs better, and the job is less “messy” without leaves attached to the cut branches.

The best time to prune depends on the type of tree. Spring-flowering trees (dogwoods, redbuds, ornamental cherries) should be pruned soon after flowering is over. These trees set flower buds in the ...