Snow And Your Garden Plants And Paths.
Its always a good idea to plan for winter falls of snow can be good and bad depending on what type of plants you have.
The good about snow – if you have a number of plants that start growing early in the spring such as Crocus and perennial plants such as Epimedium and Dicentra then freshly fallen, clean non compacted snow can have some real benefits such as protecting the plants early growth. The snow will shelter the new growth from winter winds and collect warmth and light and as the snow melts under the surface it also provides a degree of latent heat again helping to protect the plants.
The bad about snow – if you have any conifers growing in borders or as hedges then the snow can cause problems by building up in the top of the plants and spreading or breaking the stems. In this case the solution is to lightly shake the plants to remove the snow and remove and badly damaged branches or stems. Then using a strong wire tie the spread stems together inside the conifer to maintain the shape
As for snow in the rest of the garden on paths drive ways etc well its all down to access, if you need access before the snow melts then its time to start digging with a snow shovel. This season the GardenAdvice team tested the Fiskars Light snow car spade which turned out to be ideal not only to keep in your car or van in case you needed to dig yourself out but also for clearing garden paths
