Knock it off or not? Snow and ice

Fri. Dec. 16, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Knock it off or not? Snow and ice

Should I knock it off or not? A perennial topic. 

4-12-20  – Yews under all that snow!

When our timbers are shivering, our trees and shrubs are layered in snow and ice, our first instinct is to knock that stuff off, set the branches free, however, you might do more harm than good. 

My neighbor’s pine. No, I would not knock it off!

And put your own safety at risk.  Always proceed with caution as you head out after a wintry mix.  I’ve seen trees that literally sparkle in the sun as the ice has frozen like icicles after a snowstorm.  It’s beautiful but is it harmful?  Depends…  is it harmful to YOU, who might be trying to knock it off and instead, knock yourself out with a brittle branch OR is it harmful to the tree? 

Looks like the ice may unfortunately prune this french lilac… ps, don’t knock the ice off, you will damage your plant even further. This photo was 2019

Some light ice is not a problem but heavy ice and snow weighing down branches could be. 

This was pruned out after thaw

Never mess with a tree where there are downed wires, don’t walk underneath heavily laden branches. 

Branches within your reach can be swept of snow with a broom, but be careful here to!  Gauge how the tree will react.  In other words, take out a little bit first to see if the branches will blast off and leave you in a pile of snow or smack you in the face with other branches.  Once you get a feel for the reaction, proceed accordingly. The video below is from my friend, Glenn Switzer:

If you feel you must climb a ladder, then think at least twice more about that, and then Don’t! 

If your trees are heavily coated with ice – resist the temptation to knock it off. Shaking or beating the tree can cause breakage, damage the tree’s vascular system and injure needles and buds beyond what the ice damage may do.  Let the ice melt, then prune out broken branches.  If they’re just bent, leave them be. 

And then there’s my video from January 2020… the yew I’m referring to is now gone and replaced with a crabapple ‘Firebird’.  Two reasons, one is it was LARGE, two it was damaged after years of getting iced up.