Particularly for those of you who don’t see snow, you may wonder why the weather people go on and on about it. Well, this is why. Even for a very average snow, the amount of cleanup can be amazing–and I live in a neighborhood without sidewalks.
Not only do driveways and mailboxes have to be cleared, but spots have to be dug out–or snow blowed–for the trash barrels and recycling bins.
Notice the orange snow stakes. Those have to be set in the ground before it freezes. Again, because we have no curbs or sidewalk, those guide the town plows. Otherwise, you might wind up with 5 feet of your lawn plowed up as they come barreling down the street!
Most of us use stakes that are 5′ tall. That usually gets us through an average winter of snow.
You can see how even this average snow has almost buried my “thank you ” sign.
And you can see how quickly plowed snow piles up. To the right of the photo is our split rail fence. It quickly disappears to the left under the snow. This becomes very dangerous at intersections and in parking lots if it is at the entrances because no one can see to pull out. As winter goes on and these piles get higher, body shops start reaping rewards.
Melting from these piles freezes into sheets of ice as well. It’s quite dangerous.
So you can see why the meteorologists make a big deal about snow. It really does affect our lives in a lot of ways.
Gardendaze 
Hi, Karla! Thank you for this post. Really good advice. I found this first snowstorm to catch me off guard. Question, I have some trees in patio pots now covered in snow. Is there anything I need to do to protect them?
Well the good news is that we get a second chance, although it’s going to be a quick one. On those warm days–Christmas Eve and Christmas day, when it’s not pouring rain or blowing gale force winds (really gotta love our weather sometimes), if you can protect those roots a bit by bubble wrapping the pots it’s good.
If you don’t get to it, they may be fine. We have had some pretty mild winters lately.
And–perish the thought–if the plants don’t survive, well, as I always say, it is an opportunity to keep a garden center in business, right?
Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Karla
Snow and other weather is one of the main reasons I am hesitant to investigate real estate outside of California. (Some parts of California get major snow as well.) I would like to find a seasonal home in Oklahoma, but also want to go there in autumn. Even a little bit of snow is more than I want to drive in.
Honestly, the driving is not so bad (particularly if other drivers stay home! I have a vehicle that’s great in the snow and I know its limitations. Other drivers–well, let’s just say that they don’t understand that AWD or 4WD helps you go but not necessarily stop…..) It’s the walking on the icy stuff that really freaks me out. If it were just snow I’d be fine. It’s all that nasty re-freeze that bothers me.
Karla