Record Snowfall for Philadelphia

The Philadelphia area has experienced a record snowfall year and we are not done yet. What does all the snow mean for gardeners?
First lets look at the positives. The snow cover has insulated and protected a lot of plants in the garden and insulated the ground from the freezing tempreatures. Snow cover helps protect against the drying winter winds. As the snow melts it add moisture back into the ground. Under normal conditions this is a positive thing but after all the rain we had in the fall we already have moist if not wet soils so this may slow down our ability to get back into the garden.
The negative aspect of all the snow the weight. Branches were laiden with alot of weight after the storm and many snapped. With all the plowing I didnt get to a clients property to shake the snow off the arbovitae and spent hours tying and staking to get them up right again. Many shrubs are still not visible and many still bent over from all the snow. At this point it is best to wait for the melt. Things will pop back. All broken branches should be prunned. Most of the plants will recover.