Occasionally I will knock snow off an evergreen that seems to be splaying, but only the part that is above the snow line. The part that is under the snow is supported by the snow that surrounds it. For me snow is good, especially around borderline hardy plants since it provides great insulation. With light, dry snows like our most recent one, I shovel snow onto shrubs that sometimes suffer in our coldest temperatures such as broad-leafed evergreens or Hydrangea macrophylla. If I can keep them under the snow, they are surrounded by below freezing temperatures, but not the negative teens that our air temperature often reaches at night. I can't imagine trying to shovel out all my shrubs; the walkways are plenty of shoveling for me!

Heh NHBabs. No snowblower on hard ? Sadly my affinity for motors and such, at one point I had four snowblowers in the garage. Anyhow, 2 stager for the big stuff, and the single stage (with rubber paddles) for cleaning the walkways down to the surface. I do use the shovel to tidy & dress up the EOD apron

I leave the snow around the shrubs to keep them insulated, but I do remove the tops of them. I'd rather err on a little bit of snow burn than splayed shrubs. All I get is heavy wet stuff.

No snowblower at all . . . a big plow truck, 2 roof rakes (his and hers), an ice scraper, several brooms, and a couple of snow shovels takes care of it all. We're old style.

Have not had to do this this winter as, so far, snow has not be the heavy/weighty variety. I used to do this, especially on the Southern Magnolias, but after they go above three stories..., they on their own!

Am I the only crazy one

==>>> hmmm... is this a rhetorical question ???? ... lol ...

i quit doing it long ago.. when the garden got to large ....

and come spring.. i couldnt figure out if i did more harm than good .... did i end up doing the damage???

that said ... if you just need some fresh air.. go for it ...

but i wouldnt be doing any DIGGING .... as your title states ...

ken

I guess I'm the only crazy one. I've lost some shrubs here and there just due to the wet snow we get. And well, you know, it takes a bit of awhile once you replace for it to fill back in.

Full disclaimer, I even have some driveway markers in my beds so I know where the edges are and where the shovel should land. I just consider it preventative maintenance. I shovel the tops and once I see green, I use my hand and just dress the sides up, to make sure foliage is not compressed.