garbage cans upside down work with a large rock ontop so they don't blow away

Haha, simple indeed yet the trees are too tall for garbage cans. Thanks for suggestion. I'm thinking burlap cloth tied to pegs will just get blown off, but may try that.

"the best I can do is to shovel a circle of snow near the base of the trees so it's not resting on the base" I wouldn't do this, but then I live in a spot that gets regular snow. Here, snow makes good insulation, keeping the ground and anything that's buried in snow at freezing rather than colder. It provides insulation and keeps the temperature even, so most winters I have plants that are killed to the snow line since it's been colder above the snow than below it. If the snow is wet and heavy, I remove it from tree and shrub branches, but otherwise I leave it. So certainly the Japanese maple and the weeping willow will do better without the snow cleared away as long as it's not wet and heavy. I don't know about the Camellia and crape myrtle since they don't grow this far north.

Are these newly planted trees? Crepes are perennials for me most years. They die back to the ground or snow cover. How cold is D.C. going to get? Most of those and Japanese maples should tolerate zero degrees fine. Some colder.

Snow on the ground isn't a threat to most temperate zone trees. As NHBabs said, it tends to provide insulation for the roots. The typical weeping willow should laugh at those temperatures.

The wind and ice in the branches could be a threat to the trees...particularly the weeping willows, which are notoriously weak wooded.

You could try to set up a tarp to screen them from the wind. You could try to stake them...but some people claim that does more harm then good if the trees have been in the ground a while. You could use bark wrap to protect the bark from sun scald.

Be careful with road salt.

When did you plant the trees?

your trees should be fine

temperatures will be in the 20s throughout the storm maybe rising into the low 30s

Just don't forget where they are when they get buried.

There is no problem for the plants, even broadleaved evergreens (Camellias and many cultivars of Evergreen Magnolia) cope fine with snow. A very heavy, wet snow, or especially icing, are different matters. Crape Myrtles are fine with snow (if they still were in leaf, that would be another story). The most damage I have ever seen from any wintry precip. was from that freak October snow a few years ago. There were a few inches of snow on trees still in full leaf. Well, suffice to say, I saw many deciduous trees split down the middle of their trunks. (the evergreens were fine in comparison!)

Lows in the 20's are not a problem for any of your plants, plus, it warms up a lot after this storm. I agree, the most likely tree to take a hit is the weeping willow..., they are known to be quite vulnerable in storms, but recover with a vengeance.

Oooh, I forgot to mention. I have 4 Japanese maples and had to blow 4 inches of snow off my driveway. Temps are in the singles to twenties right now. I expect them all to be fine. My crepes I am never surprised if they act like a perennial. No below zero yet so I feel like rhis is a zone 7 winter and they should come back.

They should be fine. Deciduous trees (the crape and willow) won't even blink, unless the storm turns to freezing rain.

Camellias seem to handle snow load well, so I wouldn't worry about those either.

As far as temps (which was brought up), this will be a typical East Coast storm in that as soon as it stops snowing, temps look to climb above freezing. We were actually a lot colder last week when we got into the lower teens a couple of nights. With no snow cover. Sunday night might get into the teens, but other than that it's just 20s and 30s.

the ONLY thing that could damage these plants.. IS YOU..

step back into the house.. AND LET MA NATURE DO HER THING ...

You are in z7 ... you and your plants will not know what cold is ... [its been single digits here in MI most the week...]

all the plants are fully suited for the temps ...

and snow is the best insulator in winter ... let it pile up ...

stuff does happen .. so be it.. but i would prefer to blame ma nature.. rather than later figure out.. i screwed it all up ...

ken

ps: if after its all done.. some branches are bending down... if you can/want to go out there... very gently knock of snow that is causing the bending ... i would only do it in the worst case scenario ..

Cold is not going to be an issue but the weight of a lot of heavy snow - the 24+ inches predicted - could be. Laceleaf Japanese maples tend to grow with a lot of crossing, almost intertwined branches that form a sort of platform on which snow can build up. This can cause tearing or breakage of the branches which could damage the tree beyond salvage.

If possible, I'd strongly suggest braving the storm to gently shake off the snow accumulation periodically, at least on the maple. And on anything else where you see the snow load deforming the shape/habit of the plant.

"Laceleaf Japanese maples tend to grow with a lot of crossing, almost intertwined branches that form a sort of platform on which snow can build up."

I guess it's possible but my weeping laceleaf has seen dry snow, wet snow, lots of snow, and freezing rain over many years and has yet to break a branch. Snow doesn't accumulate on it in any appreciable manner...ice is a bigger concern but the wood is remarkably sturdy and hasn't ever been an issue.

Just came back to this crazy named (tho applicable it appears) thread. Appreciate your suggestions: won't clear the snow from base even if piling up (which it will). Road salt-yes understand this is destructive. Our new trees are fairly tall; four to five feet although the willow took off on its own last year.

Ken, you crack me up! I will keep an eye mainly on the Laceleaf and snow weight on branches. It is my baby-love that tree. Otherwise these trees will be pretty much on their own. Maybe I will take some photos after the blizzard.

Thank you all for your suggestions!

"I guess it's possible but my weeping laceleaf has seen dry snow, wet
snow, lots of snow, and freezing rain over many years and has yet to
break a branch. Snow doesn't accumulate on it in any appreciable
manner...ice is a bigger concern but the wood is remarkably sturdy and
hasn't ever been an issue."

The Maples forum has many posts in its archives illustrating just this issue - broken/torn branches on dissectum JM's arising from heavy snow loads. Even in my not-so-frequent-to-snow location, this is a serious issue as when it does snow here, the snow is quite wet and heavy.

Thanks Thyme. Luckily it's right out my front door, so no big deal for me to get to it when winds aren't so strong and gently clean it off, if just with my gloved hand.. I definitely am going to care for that vulnerable tree.

All summer and fall long I noticed Washington DC was seemingly always a boundary line for bad weather in 2015: never thought we'd get a historic bullseye blizzard in 2016.

beng in his post suggested it is NOT heavy wet snow ... same for you???

whatever you do.. be gentle ...

glad i can entertain ... ken

We got 20 inches here and are digging out. It stopped 11 p.m. last night. It wasn't heavy snow, and the limbs of the trees stayed clear, albeit not the base-but that's okay as others have said. So I haven't touched a thing! Leaving Mother Nature do her thing.

As long as there are no lower branches below the snow line, you're safe! Glad to hear you made it through OK. Crazy amounts of snow from that storm.

If there are any lower branch tips that are under the snow you'll want to "free" them. We have found that when lower branches are buried even by fluffy snow, as the snow melts it gets very heavy/dense and can rip the branches off.