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In the NoCo

Your trees are struggling with this warm, dry winter. Here’s how to help them through it

Several trees without leaves in the winter snow stand near a house behind a wooden fence.
Gennady Zakharin
/
Unsplash

Don't let last weekend's snowstorm fool you: Colorado is midway through an unusually dry and warm winter. And it's likely to continue. The National Weather Service publishes a drought outlook forecast that says the entire state is likely to be in a drought three months from now if these conditions persist.

One major downside of a warm, dry winter is that it can damage or even kill the trees and shrubs outside your home. So we reached out to an expert who helps homeowners prevent that from happening.

John Murgel is a horticulturist with the Colorado State University Extension. He told us before the interview that – spoiler alert – you can boil his advice down to one tip: Water your trees and shrubs.

John shared tips on how to approach winter watering with In The NoCo's Brad Turner. He also shared the CSU Extension’s list of recommendations if you want to plant trees better equipped to survive drier, warmer winters like this one.

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.
Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.
As the host of KUNC’s news program and podcast In The NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.