M'dear, just put on your boots (or a gaiter, or something to keep the snow from getting to your feet!) and plod on out there. GENTLY shake, sweep or, if your shrubs are quite large, tap them (use a long pole of some sort) to get the snow to fall away. Then bind them up.
Be careful not to cut the bark (another reason that burlap's a good idea.) If you can get another household member or a neighbor to help you, one of you can support the branches while the other removes the snow. The support person will take a snow shower, just so you know, if the shrub is tall enough. Avoid using the twine itself to draw the plant "in and up." Have your helper push or pull the branches "in and up" and *hold them there* while you carefully wrap, bind, tie. Make sure the bindings can't slip downward; that might mean a pass or two around a central stem or trunk, or wrapping around a secondary stem or trunk, moving on around the shrub, and catching the secondary stems or trunks as you go. Hope this is making clear sense as I write it...
Thanks for the good wishes, too! :^D That allee is a couple years down the road, I'm thinking...
i'm afraid it's too late for binding them up. i've shaken the snow off the trees four times already and the snow is now so deep and heavy that it's completely inside the trees between the trunks. aside from that, i don't have any burlap left and don't have any twine either.
it would take entirely more effort and time than it's worth to try and get the snow out. there is about 2-3 feet of snow around and inside each plant and we're still in blizzard conditions. it'll be snowing for another 5-7 hours here. at this point, if they don't survive, i'll just plant new ones next year or use this as an opportunity to change the garden. it's always a work in progress anyway, right? ;) (i have lots of photos of the evolution of the side yard in my scrapbook.)
Be careful not to cut the bark (another reason that burlap's a good idea.) If you can get another household member or a neighbor to help you, one of you can support the branches while the other removes the snow. The support person will take a snow shower, just so you know, if the shrub is tall enough.
Avoid using the twine itself to draw the plant "in and up." Have your helper push or pull the branches "in and up" and *hold them there* while you carefully wrap, bind, tie.
Make sure the bindings can't slip downward; that might mean a pass or two around a central stem or trunk, or wrapping around a secondary stem or trunk, moving on around the shrub, and catching the secondary stems or trunks as you go.
Hope this is making clear sense as I write it...
Thanks for the good wishes, too! :^D That allee is a couple years down the road, I'm thinking...
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it would take entirely more effort and time than it's worth to try and get the snow out. there is about 2-3 feet of snow around and inside each plant and we're still in blizzard conditions. it'll be snowing for another 5-7 hours here. at this point, if they don't survive, i'll just plant new ones next year or use this as an opportunity to change the garden. it's always a work in progress anyway, right? ;) (i have lots of photos of the evolution of the side yard in my scrapbook.)
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Take care!
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