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In this podcast, lifelong gardener Don Kinzler joins host John Lamb for a weekly dig into the fruitful topic of gardening in the upper Midwest (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, eastern Montana and southern Manitoba). Don Kinzler is a horticulturist with North Dakota State University Extension for Cass County. He has been a trusted resource for gardeners in the region for decades. Lamb is an arts and entertainment reporter for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and a novice gardener, ready to learn. Questions for Don? Email him at [email protected].
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It turns seasonal garden problems into clear decisions, with enough firsthand testing to show where certainty ends.
Growing Together turns the changing garden calendar into a practical conversation between John Lamb and Don Kinzler. Kinzler supplies the horticultural reasoning, while Lamb keeps pressing toward decisions a gardener can make: how low to mow before winter, when a houseplant…
Snow reveals the rabbit tracks; Don Kinzler makes you glad you checked before spring.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Fall yard work turns into a clear lesson in reading tree health from roots, twigs, and growth.
The conversation starts with mulch and hosta cleanup, then settles into a plain but useful reminder that tree problems often show up long before the canopy looks wrong.
A practical pruning conversation centers on late-winter timing, early spring bloomers, and what winter has done to the yard.
This episode treats pruning as a seasonal judgment call, not a fixed chore. John Lamb and Don Kinsler start with what winter has done to the yard, then move through roses, shrubs, and the timing that keeps plants dormant through the coldest stretch.
A plainspoken look at why autumn leaves change color, with a quick dose of plant science.
Fall color is treated as a small mystery with a plain answer: shorter days and cooler temperatures do most of the work, and a killing frost is not needed for the colors to show up.
Practical Christmas gift ideas for gardeners, rooted in winter use and spring planning.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler keep the focus on practical Christmas gifts for gardeners, with winter weather never far away. Snow gets treated as insulation for perennials, and it also brings the useful reminder to check for rabbit damage and add protection where it is needed.
Practical flower talk that treats drying, CSAs, and seasonal gaps as problems to work through.
This episode stays grounded in a grower's point of view, and that helps. Kimberly Hess and Don keep circling back to questions that actually matter in the garden, like drying flowers, running a CSA, and what to do when the floral calendar leaves a gap.
A steady, practical listen for choosing ornamental grasses that still matter after frost.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler keep the focus on what ornamental grasses do in a real yard, starting with late-fall cleanup, a final mowing, and the ordinary question of how much leaf material should stay in place before winter. That angle helps the episode stay practical.
A calm spring-planning chat that turns a hard-luck garden room into practical ideas.
Growing Together spends its time on the patient work of moving from winter into spring: geraniums under basement lights, seed-starting plans, and the small choices that make a garden feel alive before the ground is ready.
A plainspoken holiday gardening chat about Christmas trees, poinsettias, and the long view behind seasonal plants.
This holiday gardening episode stays close to the work itself. It treats Christmas trees as a field crop, then circles back to poinsettias and other indoor plants at the end.
Wrestling toy talk with full collector brain.
John Lamb and Don Kinzler open Growing Together by talking about fall color, frost, and Pete Odolph’s line to “learn to enjoy the browns of autumn,” then bring in Quincy Serko from Carr’s Tree Service.
Growing Together: A Gardening Podcast focuses on Valentine’s Day flowers, with John Lamb and Don Kinsler using red roses, pink blooms, yellow friendship flowers, and even cleome and hydrangea meanings as examples.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler open with spring seed arrivals, then pivot from a listener’s dying Diffenbachia to onion growing.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler use January and the 2025 gardening countdown to pivot into houseplants, especially repotting as a winter project.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler open with fall chores stacking up around the yard.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler talk with Kimberly Hess of Prairie Petals about flowers, drying blooms, and the habits that help them last a little longer.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler open on a wintery holiday mood.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler open with New Year greetings and a few hopeful signs that winter is loosening its grip.
Growing Together hosts John Lamb and Don Kinsler discuss holiday gift-giving for gardeners and address listener Michelle's career transition question.
John Lamb interviews Don Kinsler about The Prairie Garden, a gardening publication from Winnipeg applicable to prairie region gardeners in zones 3-4 (North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan).
John Lamb and Don Kinsler, NDSU Extension horticulturist, discuss spring gardening preparations as snow melts and landscape damage becomes visible.
Growing Together is a gardening podcast where John Lamb and Don Kinsler discuss seasonal garden challenges including slug control, tomato ripening, and the science behind fall foliage color changes triggered by day length and pigment chemistry.
Hosts John Lamb and Don Kinzler interview meteorologist Jesse Ritka about the impact of weather on gardening in the upper Midwest.
Master Gardener Sandra Vigen and North Dakota State University horticulturist Don Kinsler discuss spring gardening preparation, including seed starting timing, geranium cutback strategies, and creating basement greenhouse environments.
Don Kinzler says the winter “exploding trees” headlines are really about frost crack, a vertical split in a trunk caused by bitter cold, and he notes the sound can resemble a rifle shot.
Growing Together: A Gardening Podcast focuses on seed catalogs, with John Lamb and Don Kinsler comparing printed and online ordering, seed storage, and what to look for when choosing varieties.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler talk with Julie Garden-Robinson, an NDSU Extension food and nutrition specialist and professor who has held the role for 30 years.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler open by linking St.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler of Growing Together focus on overwintering geraniums, mandevilla, hibiscus, coleus, sweet potato vine, begonias, and snowstorm bacopa before frost arrives.
Growing Together explores New Year gardening resolutions in Northern climate context.
Fall cleanup frames the conversation.
Gardening education episode featuring fall plant care advice including apple harvest timing, mum selection and watering, and strategies for transitioning potted mums into perennial gardens with realistic success expectations.
Rabbits love arborvitae—one gnaw session can permanently ruin the tree, so circle them with chicken wire.
Educational gardening podcast covering fall-season challenges and expert solutions.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler use a late-February planning session on Growing Together to map out spring gardening tasks, from hibiscus fertilizer to seed-starting dates.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler, a North Dakota State University Extension Horticulturist in Cass County, use late October to show how bare twigs reveal tree and shrub health.
Don and John discuss early spring gardening tasks and answer a listener's question about pruning a woody bush.
John Lamb and Don Kinsler answer Growing Together listener questions about soil tests, marigolds, shrubs, and lawn weeds.
Four inches of wet April snow fell near the recording, and Don Kinsler says thawed soil can absorb some of its moisture.
Don Kinzler and John Lamb discuss the anticipation of spring, the aroma of greenhouses, and early signs of perennials in the upper Midwest.
Host John Lamb and horticulturist Don Kinzler discuss listener questions about tomato ripening and other gardening topics in the upper Midwest.
Don Kinzler and John Lamb discuss planting timing and tips for the upper Midwest in May.
A substitute host and a horticulturist discuss rabbit damage to shrubs during a cold February and answer a mailbag question.
Host John Lamb and horticulturist Don Kinzler discuss gardening in December, including Christmas plants, landscape planning, and protecting plants from rabbits.
A gardening podcast episode featuring a chef discussing foraging and preserving wild ingredients in the upper Midwest.
Host John Lamb and horticulturist Don Kinzler discuss the current garden harvest and introduce a guest expert on food preservation.