Give your favourite shrubs a shake or a sweep to remove heavy snow, which can break off branches, says Saanich’s senior parks manager.
Cedar hedges, camellias and rhododendrons are all at risk of losing branches, Eva Riccius said Tuesday.
Some people wrap up shrubs in November and December for the winter. “But we don’t really tend to have the climate where you have to do that.”
When it comes to other plants, snow acts as a protective blanket, she said.
“Snow is insulating so it’s actually good right now,” she said.
“Any of your little bulbs that might have been poking out that you are now going, ‘Oh, oh. What’s going to happen?’ are actually fine. They are actually being warmed by the snow blanket.”
Crocuses have been coming up and they should be fine, along with daffodils and tulips, she said.
In fact, the snow is better for the garden than the weather last week, when temperatures were low, the wind was blowing and the ground froze a little bit, she said.
“That’s when I was a little worried about some of my plants. The wind, especially, dries out plants and that is when they are more likely to be frostbitten.” — Times Colonist
