Snow is both a friend and a foe to trees and shrubs. It causes damage as we know, but it also protects plants and their roots from temperature extremes that would otherwise kill them.
Snow damages a plant by bending, breaking, splitting, and falling or uprooting. In Minnesota, conifers are typically the only trees to have leaves in the winter. Typically speaking these trees are resistent to snow damage with the exception of white pines and arborvitae. Deciduous trees without leaves are not effected. However in rare cases we get an early snow while the deciduous trees still have leaves. This causes widespread damage of bending, breaking and splitting.
(This information was taken from TCIA press release called ‘Snow and Woody Plants’
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