Protecting Shrubs from Snow Load — Ohio

Every March I drive through neighborhoods in Pickerington, Grove City, and Bexley and count the splayed-open arborvitae. A row of evergreens that looked sharp last October is now spread wide like an open hand because a heavy wet snow in February pulled the leaders down and bent them so far the wood cracked. By April the homeowner is calling for tree removal quotes on shrubs that should have had another fifteen years in them.

I have been pruning and protecting ornamental shrubs across Pickaway, Franklin, and Fairfield counties for more than a decade. This is the protection routine I run on my own clients’ properties starting in late October, and it works.

When should I protect shrubs from snow load in Ohio?

Late October through mid-November in Central Ohio. The goal is to have all wrapping, tying, and burlap up before the first significant snow event, which historically lands anywhere from mid-November to mid-December per NWS Wilmington records. You also want to do this before the ground freezes solid because some of the work involves driving stakes.

On a Circleville property last Wednesday, I wrapped four 8-foot Green Giant arborvitae and tied off a row of upright junipers along a driveway. Took about ninety minutes. The homeowner had lost two of the same arborvitae in February 2024 to a wet snow event and was not going through it again.

What kinds of shrubs need snow load protection?

Not every shrub does. The ones that suffer most from snow and ice load:

• Upright arborvitae (Green Giant, Emerald Green, Techny, North Pole)
• Upright junipers (Skyrocket, Spartan, Blue Point)
• Boxwood, especially older specimens with bare interiors
• Yew trained as columns or pyramids
• Holly, especially upright varieties
• Cypress and false cypress with feathery foliage
• Newly planted evergreens of any kind in their first two winters

What usually does not need protection:

• Most deciduous shrubs (no leaves means less snow surface area)
• Spreading or mounded evergreens that already lay close to the ground
• Mature established shrubs with strong, well-spaced leaders that have made it through several winters

The pattern is foliage surface area times height times branch flexibility. Tall, narrow, soft-stemmed evergreens with dense foliage catch the most snow and bend the most under load. Those are the ones that fail.

How do I tie up arborvitae and upright evergreens?

The most reliable technique is a spiral wrap with soft twine or jute. You are not trying to crush the shrub, just to keep individual leaders from spreading wide and breaking off under snow weight.

Steps for a typical 6 to 10 foot Green Giant or Emerald Green arborvitae:

• Use natural jute or sisal twine, 1/4 inch diameter, not nylon (nylon does not stretch and can girdle branches in spring)
• Start at the base, secure twine to the lowest branch with a clove hitch
• Spiral the twine up the shrub, around and around, applying gentle inward pressure
• Spacing between wraps: about 8 to 12 inches
• Tie off at the top with a square knot
• Cut and remove all twine by April 1 before new growth pushes

The key word is gentle. You are containing the shrub, not strapping it. Over-tight wrapping causes more problems than it solves by killing interior foliage and creating long-term shape damage.

On a Lancaster property in 2023, the previous landscaper had wrapped six boxwoods so tightly with green twine the foliage inside had turned brown by spring. We unwrapped them in April, pruned out the dead, and they recovered, but the homeowner lost a year of growth.

When should I use burlap, and how?

Burlap is the right tool for two specific problems:

• Salt spray from roads or sidewalks landing on foliage all winter
• Winter desiccation on broadleaf evergreens like rhododendron, holly, and azalea in exposed locations

It is the wrong tool for snow load. Burlap wrapped tightly around an arborvitae traps moisture, harbors disease, and does not actually prevent snow damage. Tie the shrub for snow load with twine, and use burlap separately if you have a salt or wind problem.

Burlap technique for salt and wind protection:

• Drive three or four wooden stakes around the shrub, taller than the shrub by 12 inches
• Wrap burlap around the stakes, not the shrub itself, creating a fence around the plant
• Secure the burlap to the stakes with staples or twine
• Leave the top open so light and air still reach the plant
• Remove the burlap fence by early April

Burlap touching the foliage all winter pulls moisture out and conducts cold, which is the opposite of what you want. Build the fence around the shrub, not on it.

Should I use anti-desiccant sprays on broadleaf evergreens?

Yes for boxwood, rhododendron, holly, and azalea in exposed locations. Anti-desiccants like Wilt-Pruf form a thin wax coating on the leaves that slows water loss through the cuticle during winter when frozen roots cannot replace moisture as fast as wind pulls it out.

Application:

• Apply when air temperatures are between 40 and 50 degrees
• Spray both sides of every leaf to runoff
• Wait for a 48 hour rain-free window
• Re-apply in February if you can get a 40-degree day, because the coating breaks down over winter

Per OSU Extension guidance, anti-desiccants are most effective on broadleaf evergreens in their first three years after planting and on shrubs sited in windy, sun-exposed locations facing south or southwest. A boxwood tucked against the north side of a house in a courtyard usually does not need it.

On a Bexley property I service, the homeowner has a row of boxwoods along an exposed south-facing wall that browned out badly two winters ago. We added anti-desiccant to the fall routine in 2024 and they came through winter 2025 with full green color.

How do I protect shrubs from plows and de-icer salt?

Two related problems with overlapping solutions. Snow piles pushed by plows can crush shrubs, and the salt in those piles burns foliage and poisons the soil around the root zone.

Defenses:

• Install 24 to 36 inch tall snow stakes or marker flags around the drip line of each shrub bordering driveways or sidewalks (the plow operator sees them and steers around)
• Wrap a burlap or plastic snow fence along any shrub row that faces a salted sidewalk
• After major snow events, brush snow off the shrub by hand with a broom, sweeping upward to lift snow off branches rather than pushing it down

Salt damage to the soil takes years to flush out. On a Columbus property along Broad Street, the front yew hedge has been losing the lowest 18 inches of growth every winter for five years because the city plow piles salt-laden snow on it. We rebuilt the bed last fall with a 30-inch buffer of mulched perennial bed between the sidewalk and the new shrubs, and added gypsum to the existing root zone to help flush out accumulated sodium.

For more on protecting lawns from the same salt problem, see our companion guide on salt damage and lawn prevention.

What do I do if a shrub gets buried in snow?

Three rules:

• Brush snow off in the morning after the storm before it freezes solid on the foliage
• Sweep upward and outward, not downward (downward pushes break already-stressed branches)
• Do not try to remove ice that has already frozen onto the shrub. Let it melt naturally. Ice removal causes more damage than ice itself.

If a leader has already bent over but not broken, you can sometimes save it by gently lifting it back into position and tying it to a stake for the rest of the winter. Once it has broken, you are looking at pruning out the damage in spring and either accepting a different shape going forward or replacing the shrub.

What about new shrub plantings going into the ground in October?

Fall is a good time to plant, but anything that goes in after October 1 needs extra protection its first winter. The root system has not had time to establish, the plant cannot take up much water, and any winter wind or sun stress hits harder.

For a fall-planted evergreen:

• Water deeply once a week until the ground freezes, even if it rains
• Apply 3 inches of mulch around the root zone, kept 3 inches off the trunk
• Wrap with twine if it is an upright form
• Apply anti-desiccant in late November
• Plan to check it weekly through winter and water if a January thaw allows

We plant ornamentals year-round through our landscaping service, and any fall installation includes winterization as part of the job. No surprises in March.

Quick October shrub protection checklist

• Identify which shrubs need snow load protection (uprights, narrow forms, broadleaf evergreens)
• Spiral wrap with natural twine, not nylon
• Use burlap as a salt and wind fence, not as a direct wrap
• Apply anti-desiccant to broadleaf evergreens in exposed locations
• Set snow stakes along shrub rows bordering driveways and sidewalks
• Water new fall plantings until ground freeze, then mulch
• Plan to brush snow off in the morning, not let it freeze on

Want a free quote?

Lawn Harmony Landscaping handles shrub protection, pruning, fall cleanups, mulching, and full-season landscape maintenance across Pickaway, Franklin, Fairfield, Ross, and Fayette counties. Locally owned and operated, licensed and insured, 5.0-star Google rating, owner on every job.

Call (614) 425-9789 or email LawnHarmonyOhio@gmail.com for a free quote.

Service area: Circleville, Columbus, Grove City, Bexley, Upper Arlington, Pickerington, Canal Winchester, Groveport, Lancaster, Baltimore, Chillicothe, Washington Court House, and Jeffersonville.