eGarden © 2004 Ed Mues

From The Garden of Ed. Submitted for publication in The Towne Crier on January 14, 2004

Snow: Mother Nature's Extraordinary Gift to Gardeners.

The very word stirs hearts, makes pulses race, excites artists, writers, winter sports enthusiasts, nature lovers and snowshoers. The transformation that takes place stirs one to contemplation. For Christians, a poem written in the early years of the Civil War by a young woman fallen from grace with her God is also a poem about falling into a rapture with her God, seeking His forgiveness. It is in the tradition of St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross in its mystical appeal. It is titled simply, "Oh, The Snow, The Beautiful Snow". It bears reading.

Some three hundred years earlier in 1555 Rome, the Archbishop of Upsala, Olaus Magnus, was so taken with the beauty of snowflakes that he planned on publishing a book about them. A series of woodcuts were in the works when, sadly, the project's success was compromised by the failure of an apprentice.

In 1931 the results of fifty years of work was published. Wilson Alwyn Bentley had been taking microscopic photographs of snowflakes for that period of time. He began as a teenager. He wrote frequently for the Monthly Weather Review, gave lectures, submitted photos for encyclopedias, was a member of the American Meteorological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It was the AMS that selected the best (2,453) of his many photomicrographs and with text written by W.J. Humphreys called the collection "Snow Crystals".

Horticulturally, too, snow is very important. The presence of snow may determine whether or not certain plants survive. A series of heavy deep freezes in a row with no snow cover can spell disaster for many plants. The deep penetrating cold can cause serious damage to many root systems. On the other hand, an early snow that comes before any real deep freezes, and subsequent snows that stick around for a while, or even remain throughout much of the winter, these are to be celebrated.

This insulating blanket insures plants will stay dormant and still have abundant moisture, both from what's locked in the soil and from what will be supplied as the surface snow slowly melts. This snow performs the same function as mulch. It protects from repeated freeze / thaw events that result in what is known as "frost heaving". When there is insufficient moisture in the soil, mild temperatures and soil surface warming result in the thrusting upward of the plant. The results can be broken roots and desiccation of plant parts exposed to wind, sun and cold.

Be grateful for the snow.

What to do if there isn't any snow cover that's staying on the ground? If you are thinking of your gardens, be they vegetable, herb or flower, apply a thick layer of organic mulch. But, "Hold on!", you say. "Shouldn't I wait until the ground is frozen?" That's what I normally recommend, but there seems to be a question about how to know.

I use the pitchfork test. Assuming we've had some hard freezes, some light snowfall, some rain, here is what I do if there is no snow on the ground. I grab my pitchfork and gently push it into the bed or garden soil. If it slides in with relative ease, don't mulch. If there is a fair amount of resistance or you have to really lean on the handle, there is plenty of moisture and cold in the soil to mulch and lock them both in. Use straw, rotting hay, pine needles, evergreen boughs, or good old compost or composted manure.

If you had planted a cover crop, put the mulch right over the cover crop. All the better. This will hold in the trapped moisture and cold, further insulate the soil, and hopefully catch and hold any additional snow that follows. Finally, remember to never leave any garden ground bare over the winter. Runoff and flood damage are curtailed when the ground is covered.

Snow is a great conservationist. Snow replenishes the water table. Snow also reflects sunlight and in so doing reduces surface heating and evaporation.

These may appear obvious to most people. Not so obvious, but still rather well known, especially by those of you with some experience in the matters of growing, farming, homesteading is this: as snowflakes fall through the upper atmosphere they pick up along the way and collect for their trip to the surface, nitrogen, the most beneficial natural fertilizer. And, it is there on the surface that it remains until carried down into the soil where it will serve the next seasons crop.

Snow has long been called the poor man's fertilizer or nature's fertilizer. Atmospheric nitrogen brought to earth courtesy of Mother Nature. What a blessing!

Ever the optimist, I must confess there are a few problems snow can bring. Heavy, wet snows can pose a threat of damage to your favorite evergreens. The threat comes from weight, aka. "snow load". Those spruces you've watched grow year after year have some major branches tested right where they join the trunk.

The weight of a heavy wet snow can cause cracks and breakage at that point. The best tool I know of is a soft broom used to gently remove snow build-up as soon as safe and practical. Gently push and remove as much of the weight as you are able. "Gentle" is the watchword. You don't want to exacerbate the problem, you want to relieve it. A little patience pays off.

The second problem that heavy snows can bring about is that it provides protection to some unseen critters, simply seeking to survive. They are voles, aka." meadow mice" and "field mice". These guys are normally the quarry of predator birds and small carnivorous mammals. The heavy snow cover provides them with the ultimate cover as they move about just below the surface, undetected. They are after the inner bark of young, thin barked fruit trees, birches, etc.. The inner bark houses the carbohydrates and minerals they are after. They may, if conditions favor them, completely girdle a tree or shrub and cause its demise in a single season. What to do?

If you know my previous advice, I call for collars beginning a little below ground, and extending up at least two feet. I suggest hardware cloth (metal) or sturdy tree wrap.

But, if the snow level exceeds two feet, and the snow is crusty or hard enough to support voles, or worse yet, rabbits, here comes a serious threat to damage. Even deer will get on top of this stuff and sample tender buds and single season tender growth. This feeding damage won't kill your plantings, but will leave them disfigured and you'll have some corrective pruning to do come spring.

The better protection would be six to eight foot wooden stakes driven solidly into the ground and then wrapped with burlap. It is an exclusionary type of protection and it works, but must be done in fall in advance of snowy weather.

Accompanying this aesthetic and meditational wonderland is another horticultural advantage. Deciduous trees and shrubs reveal their architecture cleanly and clearly in stark contrast to the snow and clear sky. It is easy to spot broken or damaged limbs and branches. Closer looks at bark and twigs can also reveal Eastern tent caterpillar egg masses on fruit trees, black knot on cherry and other prunus species, and gypsy moth egg masses on hardwood tree trunks. A small notebook on a winter walk will serve as the perfect reminder when sitting by the fire side planning for spring.

Frost seeding is a great no till alternative for pastures and even lawns. Flower garden enthusiasts who are not after the 'soldiers in a row' order of their beds, but rather a more random style, should by all means frost seed, too. Not just poppies, but hardy annuals and perennials. Just throw the seeds on top of the snow over your beds. Dianthus, armeria, cornflowers, coneflowers, delphinium, asters, coreopsis, penstemons, columbine, etc.. As the snow melts the seeds will carried down by the moisture and there they will fit into cracks and fissures in the soil. Having been exposed to the cold, the seed coats will crack and rupture naturally, in preparation for sprouting as the temperatures warm.

Those who sow shall reap. Until next time, enjoy the snow for all its worth.

From The Garden of Ed. Submitted for publication in The Towne Crier on January 14, 2004

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