Trees bent from the weight of heavy snow following a Thanksgiving-week blizzard in northern Wisconsin. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
By Paul Cigan, DNR Forest Health Specialist
Paul.Cigan@wisconsin.gov or 715-416-4920
This year’s Thanksgiving holiday brought with it not only a hearty meal and a few good hunting stories to tell around the family table, but also a heavy fixing of blizzard-like conditions. The storm caused a real stretch to the proverbial beltline of many trees that were left heavily bent over in its wake.
On the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 25, a potent winter storm moved across northwestern Wisconsin, bringing with it freezing rain that transitioned to heavy, wet snow as temperatures dipped overnight.
Then, on Nov. 28-29, southern Wisconsin experienced its own potent dose of early winter snow when a second large snowstorm moved through, bringing heavy snowfall but with more limited damage.
The cooperative agreement between the USDA Forest Service and the Davey Tree Expert Company, which typically funds the delivery of i-Tree, has been 
To best answer the titular question, I like to start by flipping the question on its head: When is the worst time to prune trees?
