Designing for Snow: How to Keep the Plow Guy from Wrecking Your Yard
Hello neighbors, Jeremy Klice here.
If you’re planning a landscape renovation this year, I have one question for you: where is the snow going to go? In Jamestown, we have to design for January. Here is how to design a yard that survives the plow.
Rule #1: The 20% Rule (Or, “Respect the Pile”)
Plan for snow storage — a good rule of thumb is to set aside 20% to 30% of your total plowed area just for stacking snow. Don’t put the pile blocking your sightlines or against the house, where meltwater heads straight for your basement.
Rule #2: The “Plow Zone” is No Place for Evergreens
A gorgeous row of Arborvitae or Boxwoods along the driveway often looks like it went 12 rounds by March — the weight of pushed snow splays and cracks them, and road salt spray dries out the foliage. The solution is to plant “quitters” in the plow zone: perennials like Hostas or Daylilies that die back to the ground in fall. Snow acts as an insulator for them, and they pop up fresh in spring.
Rule #3: Stake It Before You Break It
Before the first flake falls, mark your driveway boundaries with reflective stakes. When everything is covered in white, the line between “Driveway” and “Expensive Kentucky Bluegrass” becomes invisible — stakes tell the plow driver exactly where to drop the blade.
Design smart now, and you won’t be gluing branches back onto your bushes in April. — Jeremy
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