Hopefully, this latest snow shouldn’t do too much damage to our yards and gardens. Plants that pop early can usually handle the cold. However, if the snow piles up and gets heavy, we could see some plants fold under the weight.

Here are some spring storm survival tips:

Trees and shrubs should be able to weather the weather. But if several inches of heavy, wet snow build up on evergreens or other shrubs and trees, you can gently shake it free with a rake. Though the branches should be less brittle than they were in winter, a load of wet snow combined with high winds could cause some branches to deeply bend or even break.

Don’t bother to cover emerging plants with blankets. They’ll only get soggy and wet. If you’ve got a couple precious plants that are several inches out of the ground, you can try covering them with a box or garbage can, but most plants should spring back after the snow melts.

When (if) you shovel, take care not to throw shovelsfull of heavy snow onto plants poking out along your sidewalks or driveway. You could break tender stems, which would cut back on this year’s blooms.

Finally, remember that spring snows don’t last. With any luck, this will turn into nothing but a memory — and dash of soil moisture — in a couple days.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Weather woes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.