NEITHER RAIN NOR COLD. During winter, especially in areas where exceptional cold occurs, people begin to think that the cold weather will reduce the insect pest populations for the coming year. The idea that cold weather will kill off overwintering insects, especially grubs, is a falesy. Insects have been around for over 350 million years and have most likely faced conditions much colder in the past than what they face currently.
How insects protect themselves as they overwinter is an interesting story. Some insects protect themselves by reducing the amount of water in their bodies and replacing it with a natural “antifreeze” (glycerol type of compounds). Other insects are able to burrow down into the soil where they are protected from the cold. Thus, cold weather now will have little effect on your practices to control insects in the spring and summer. Insects can be killed by cold weather but it usually takes a trick by mother nature. During the winter if we get a significant warm-up, the insects maybe fooled to come out early. This is lethal if temperatures then drop rapidly.
SNOW BUILDUP ON PLANT MATERIAL. Snow buildup on landscape plants should be avoided. If significant amounts of snow accumulate on shrubs removal by brushing the snow off with a broom is suggested. Sweeping the snow off the shrubs should be in an upward fashion so that the snow is lifted off. The two main causes of breakage from snow or ice are due the weight of the snow and careless removal.
SOIL TEMPERATURES.
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