Kristal, I'm sure that will work just fine. I don't know if you'll even have to bother with shovelling off the snow in the spring as it'll insulate against any late spring freeze/thaws which plants don't particularly like.

Do you have some border-line hardy plants in there that you're worried about? I know in my yard, I've situated a bed that has some more tender roses and a tree peony where DH blows all the snow off of the lane on to. I'm pretty sure it's helped them to survive.

Laurie

Yes, it sounds like you're doing the right thing. Further to what Laurie said about not shoveling off the snow, I actually go further and shovel more snow on as long as there is some to shovel. Protects against those spring days when the snow melts off but it still gets really cold at night.

I decided to get a bale of flax straw this fall since I have tender roses that were transplanted just this past week.

Regarding using the bobcat, as long as the snow is reasonably light and fluffy thatÂs good as that makes the best insulator. It probably doesnÂt matter if you only have perennials in the bed, but if you have any shrubs you donÂt want to damage them if there are any chunks of hardy packed down icy snow falling on the branches.

For me itÂs become an annual event that after the first good snowfall in November I shovel and gently pile a mound of snow around my more tender shrubs. This helps insulate the root zone. During future snowfalls, I think this also helps any new snow "catch" around the plant so that some of the smaller shrubs are completely buried by the time the cold of January comes.

Glen