A couple of posts ago I waxed poetic about the use of evergreens in your landscape. What I failed to mention is that evergreens, which are generally an easy care plant, need a little help in winter to keep them healthy. For those smaller evergreens that you may have just planted in the fall, covering them with a A-frame is useful to keep the branches from snapping in half under the weight of heavy snow. For mature evergreens, such as the false cypress pictured right, gently knocking off the snow after a heavy storm is a must. I've seen plenty of slender arborvitae loose their natural shape because someone did not bother to knock the heavy snow off the branches. When the snow forms into ice, it becomes doubly tragic. The limbs will fall to the sides causing the arborvitae to look more like a lopsided letter "W" and less like an "O", it's natural pretty shape. If you have inherited a "W" shaped arborvitae, you can discreetly tie the branches that have strayed to the main trunk, gently lifting them up where they belong.
I've included a recent photo here of my Hinoki false cypress. This poor shrub has been moved to four different locations and had one bad winter where it's main trunk split in two due to heavy snow and a negligent owner (namely, me). Now in it's permanent location, it's somewhat protected from strong winds and exposure, and it's big enough now where heavy snow is less of a problem. I did have to cut a large chunk out of the middle after I realized that the main trunk had split and I worried that it would always have a large hole. But, hopefully this photo demonstrates that nature can usually recover given enough time and care. One of the reasons I love this false cypress so much is that it's carefree shape usually requires no sort of tweaking, trimming, or shaping. Now I also love it because it can be trimmed when necessary and it forgives the intrusion.
A couple of posts ago I waxed poetic about the use of evergreens in your landscape. What I failed to mention is that evergreens, which are generally an easy care plant, need a little help in winter to keep them healthy. For those smaller evergreens that you may have just planted in the fall, covering them with a A-frame is useful to keep the branches from snapping in half under the weight of heavy snow. For mature evergreens, such as the false cypress pictured right, gently knocking off the snow after a heavy storm is a must. I've seen plenty of slender arborvitae loose their natural shape because someone did not bother to knock the heavy snow off the branches. When the snow forms into ice, it becomes doubly tragic. The limbs will fall to the sides causing the arborvitae to look more like a lopsided letter "W" and less like an "O", it's natural pretty shape. If you have inherited a "W" shaped arborvitae, you can discreetly tie the branches that have strayed to the main trunk, gently lifting them up where they belong. 
I've included a recent photo here of my Hinoki false cypress. This poor shrub has been moved to four different locations and had one bad winter where it's main trunk split in two due to heavy snow and a negligent owner (namely, me). Now in it's permanent location, it's somewhat protected from strong winds and exposure, and it's big enough now where heavy snow is less of a problem. I did have to cut a large chunk out of the middle after I realized that the main trunk had split and I worried that it would always have a large hole. But, hopefully this photo demonstrates that nature can usually recover given enough time and care. One of the reasons I love this false cypress so much is that it's carefree shape usually requires no sort of tweaking, trimming, or shaping. Now I also love it because it can be trimmed when necessary and it forgives the intrusion.
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