Snow slides off of this pitched roof onto the shrubs below.

Have you ever seen a shrub- say a favorite spring-flowering beauty such as Rhododendron- bent over and broken by a heavy snow load that has fallen from a pitched roof? If you’re a plant lover like me, this is heart breaking. And totally avoidable. Placing the right plant in the right place has everything to do with keeping your favorite woody plants from falling victim to snow-induced breakage.

Before you make a planting plan, conduct a little site analysis. Observe where snow loads from your roof land. As snow sits on a pitched roof it becomes heavier and heavier until it eventually slides off- covering any plant in it’s path. Sliding snow often doesn’t end up right under the eve, but rather as far from the house as 10-15′. So it’s important to: A. choose trees and shrubs that are resilient to breaking or B. place susceptible plants away from where snow slides off the roof . Most deciduous and needled evergreens trees or shrubs are resilient to heavy snow because they are flexible and shed snow easily. Broadleaf evergreens can be problematic. The large surface area of their leaves holds onto more snow and ice (and weight), making them more susceptible to breakage.

Another option would be to plant hardy, herbaceous perennials in snowy spots. These plants go dormant during the winter and foliage dies back to the ground naturally. During winter there remains no delicate branches or shoots to break- the roots lie underground sleeping, emerging only in spring when the ground warms.

Our Horticulturists at db Landscaping love a good planting challenge. Over the years we have come up with a pallette of shrubs that can handle a heavy load of snow sliding from a roof. We especially like the following not only beacuse they can handle the snow but also because they offer year-round beauty:

Clump birch, Kousa dogwood, Spruce, Pine, Fir, Hemlock, Cut-leaf Stephanandra, Red/Yellow twig Dogwood, Yew, Spiraea, Cotoneaster… And of course we are big fans of hardy perennials such as Lady’s Mantle, Daylilly, Astilbe, Columbine, Yarrow, Coreopsis, Dianthus, Bleeding Heart, Hosta, etc. etc…