We really saw a lot of snow this past week. 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.

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 it than others. The insulation from the snow also reduces the freezing depth in the soil, keeping it warmer for deeper roots.

Snow may be cold and difficult, 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 and provides protection against drying, winter winds.

Don’t forget the added benefit of snow, which is beauty in the landscape. I know it is hard to see past the cold, but it is quite beautiful. It also allows some of our other plants to really pop in the winter landscape. One of my favorite winter interest plants is red twig dogwood, which becomes magnificent with red stems against the white snow.

Disadvantages

Heavy snow can cause 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 once the snow melts. For bending branches, it is best to just allow the snow to melt naturally. However, heavy snow may cause branches to break. If branches break due to snow weight, make proper pruning cuts to the broken branches once it is safe to go out and do so.

If the tree becomes covered with ice, the instinct is to knock it off the tree, but this can be more damaging. If you try to break ice off a tree or shrub, it can break or crack branches. Let ice melt naturally. 

Small wildlife, such as rabbits and voles, are more protected from predators in the snow and all wildlife are looking for food when snow covers the ground. Rabbits will chew on small plants. In the winter, 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 even on individual shrubs from where the rabbits chewed during the winter.

Voles can do similar damage, but often underneath the snow line. The snow will protect these small creatures from predators allowing them to get to our trees and shrubs and girdle them all the way around the trunk, in some cases. This damage cannot be reversed and it may lead to plant death.

There is no real cure for rabbit or vole damage to our plants, exclusion will have the greatest impact. They can be excluded by surrounding a garden or landscape area with fence made of 1 inch mesh that is 2 feet tall.

Nicole Stoner

Extension Educator at Nebraska Extension

Nicole Stoner is a Nebraska Extension Educator based out of Gage County in Beatrice, NE. Nicole is an ISA Certified Arborist and is Tree Risk Assessment Qualified. She obtained her Master's Degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for Horticulture with a minor in Insect Science and she has Bachelor's Degrees in both areas. Nicole's focus areas include: trees, shrubs, lawns, gardens, and insects.