WINTER IS DEFINITELY HERE IN FORCE!

After a week of nasty weather, we're being buried again by snow.
The last one was a big ice event. It crippled the state of New Hampshire, and worked on Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont as well. Most folks in our area were without electricity from a few hours to many days, some still without.
As I drive around and look at all the tree branches down and shrubs covered in ice, I am reminded of the fact that you should NOT attempt to remove ice from any of your plants. They are very cold and vulnerable at this point, and disturbing them may very likely break those vulnerable plants in ways that you will NOT like!
Today as I look at an additional 6 new inches of snow, I realize that we must be very careful of how we remove this burden from shrubs.
Just take a broom handle and poke it into the plant dislodging the snow which will gently fall to the ground. If there is ice mixed in, that same broom handle may very well break the branch. You don't want to do that! So, if there's ice...leave it alone. If it's snow, poke away. The heavy snow will weigh down on the branches causing breakage as well...so be away with it!