Snow Benefits and Disadvantages
We really saw a lot of snow recently. I know not all people appreciate snow as much as others. It makes travel difficult and is accompanied by very cold temperatures, and also, in some cases, our plants don’t appreciate it either. On the other hand, there are some plant benefits to all this snow as well.
Benefits
Plant protection is a benefit that comes from snow on plants through the winter. That may sound odd, but it works as an insulation to keep the plants uniform in temperature. This can help keep the plants from frost heaving, which is where the plant is pushed out of the ground by continual freezing and thawing of the soil throughout the winter months. Once this has happened, the plant roots are exposed to freezing temperatures and will likely die. Not all plants frost heave and some are more prone to this situation. The insulation from the snow also reduces the freezing depth in the soil, keeping it warmer for the deeper roots.
Snow may be cold and be difficult to move through, however, it does provide moisture to our plants in an otherwise dry environment. Winter is usually dry and windy. Strong winter winds can make winter drought worse. Snow is good moisture to help reduce drought.
Disadvantages
Some of the disadvantages from snow on our plants is the damage from the snow itself and the damage from wildlife including deer and rabbits. Small wildlife, such as rabbits, are more protected from predators in the snow and all wildlife are looking for food when snow covers the ground.
Deer can cause a lot of problems to plants in all seasons of the year, but especially through the fall and winter. They chew off the ends of small twigs and bucks rub their antlers on smaller trees, injuring the bark.
Rabbits can also be a problem in our landscapes. Rabbits will chew on small plants. In the winter months they gnaw on the thin bark of young trees to feed on the green inner bark areas. In winters with heavy snowfall, you can sometimes see a horizontal line of damage along small trees or shrubs in a tree row or all around shrubs from where the rabbits chewed during the winter.
There is no real cure for deer or rabbit damage to our plants, exclusion will have the greatest impact. Rabbits can be excluded by surrounding a garden or landscape area with fence made of 1 inch mesh that is 2 feet tall. For deer, the fence needs to be at least 5-6 feet tall around the trees or shrubs you wish to protect but can be a larger mesh if you don’t also have rabbit issues.
Heavy snow can also cause our trees and shrubs to bend down out of their normal form or even break branches. If the branches are just bending, they will return to their normal shape in the spring. For bending branches, it is best to just allow the snow to melt naturally. However, if the snow is heavy and may cause branches to break, that can be more damaging for our trees and large shrubs. If it is heavy snow, lightly shake the branches or carefully use a broom to brush heavy snow off the branches.
If the tree becomes covered with ice, the instinct is to knock it off the tree, but this can be more damaging than leaving it. If you try to break ice off a tree or shrub, it can break or crack branches, leaving more problems. Let ice melt naturally off the plant for best results.
If you have any further questions please contact Nicole Stoner at (402) 223-1384, nstoner2@unl.edu, visit the Gage County Extension website at www.gage.unl.edu, or like my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NicoleStonerHorticulture and follow me on twitter @Nikki_Stoner