A diseased heritage oak tree spared the chain saw in May so Sonoma County personnel and tree experts could re-evaluate its status came down Monday as opponents of its removal stood by to bear witness.

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.