Snow and ice can not only be hazardous to walk or drive in but can wreak havoc with your home and landscape if not properly dealt with.

It’s always a good idea in the late fall to have markers placed on your driveway (and even along the street) to delineate where your driveway begins and ends. Place them in the ground before it freezes and you won’t be dealing with costly repairs to your lawn and shrubs due to unknowing plows.

When it snows make sure it is moved away from doors on stoops, patios, decks or any area that is adjacent to a means of egress in and out of your house. Accumulated snow can blow inside if not moved or can melt and find its way in to your home possibly causing water damage.

When treating slippery spots on your hardscape surfaces make sure you match the melting product with your surface. Concrete and concrete products will corrode with the use of salt. All stone patios and steps with mortar joints as well as all paver products can be damaged. Instead use either Calcium Chloride or Potassium Chloride. They are gentler on concrete, have a lower re-freezing temperature and are significantly less toxic for your plants and lawn. Salt is fine for larger areas like Asphalt driveways, but stick with KCl or CaCl for everything else.

Another good idea when there are heavy snowfalls is to ease the weight burden on your plants and trees by having snow removed from their branches. Wet heavy snow can break branches and leave a plant deformed, often taking years to grow out.
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