Standing beside my young magnolia tree, which lost a big beautiful branch in the first of the fierce snow storms that have pummeled Dorchester County this winter, I felt a sense of loss and helplessness.

If only I had braved the bitter cold and gone out in the thick of it to brush off my tree's leaves, perhaps they wouldn't have accumulated enough weight in snow to break a bough several inches thick and many feet long.

As the days passed, I heard similar stories from other people. Magnolias, hollies, crepe myrtles and birches, in particular, had fallen victim to the storms.

Evergreens especially suffer from snow and ice damage, according to the “University of Maryland Master Gardener Handbook.” Is this because nature endowed them with more brittle wood than trees that lose their leaves in fall? Or because their leaves provide surfaces on which snow and ice can build up, while the bare branches of deciduous trees offer much narrower surfaces?

Not all magnolias are evergreen, but mine – a Southern Magnolia (magnolia grandiflora), native to Maryland – keeps its leaves year-round.

The branch that snapped was hanging by a thin strip of wood and bark when I found it. Optimistically, I searched the yard for a long piece of wood that I could use as a crutch to prop up the damaged limb. My plan was to press it back into place and bind it to the trunk with duct tape, leaving the crutch in place to support it. Don't laugh. The technique has worked for me on butterfly bush (buddleia).  

The same storm that damaged the magnolia left one of my crepe myrtle's branches hanging, too. I propped it up, bound it with tape and said a prayer.

But with the magnolia, my intervention made matters worse. As I hoisted the branch back against the deep gash in the trunk that the damage had left, the branch broke completely and fell to the ground.

What I should have done, according to the Master Gardener Handbook, was to remove the snow after the storm “by gently pushing upwards through the plant with a broom.” If you do that, wear a hat, because otherwise the snow will fall on your head. And remember to shake your hat and jacket thoroughly before going indoors.

This past Saturday, after a storm that weather forecasters had frighteningly called “a blizzard,” I went outside with a broom and tackled the snow on my magnolia. Some of the branches were so laden that they had drooped down to the ground, where the storm dumped even more snow on them, covering them completely.  

The idea of leaving a warm home, in freezing temperatures, just to sweep off a tree might seem a bit mad. But after an hour of gently shaking and brushing, I felt invigorated. And I felt happy to have spent time in the lovely white and blue landscape (blue for the sky and the shadows cast by trees and shrubs), doing my best to preserve a tree I'd planted 12 or 15 years ago.

Some trees are more prone to snow and ice damage than others because of their brittle wood. Southern magnolia appears on a list of the most brittle that I found on the website PlantsGalore.com. Also on the list: silver maple, tulip tree, locust, willow, chestnut oak and white mulberry, among others.

Another site, joshuatree.com, listed white birch, poplars and elms, as well. But no tree or shrub is safe if snow and/or ice piles up too much, it warned. If a plant is coated in ice, it added, don't try to knock it off, or you could end up doing damage, even breaking branches.

Fast-growing plants whose wood is not strong and durable break apart easily under stress from wind, snow or ice, according to PlantsGalore.com. A “bad characteristic” of such trees – “they develop branch forks or crotches that have a narrow angle” which is “inherently weak and more liable to break under stress than crotches that have a wider angle between the branches.” 

What should you do about a damaged branch if you don't want to try my duct tape method? If it's easily accessible, prune it off to the next lateral or to the trunk, with a clean, straight cut, the Master Gardener Handbook advises. But never cut it flush with the trunk. Leave the collar, a thickened area at the base of a branch where it joins the trunk. The collar is usually thicker underneath than on top, so cut at an angle to preserve the whole thing.

Even small broken branches should be removed because disease and pests can infest a tree that has open wounds.

Never use tree wound dressing, paint or shellac on cut surfaces because these can shelter disease organisms and slow the healing process, the handbook stresses. The collar, by the way, contains chemically protective tissue that encourages rapid healing.

If you decide to remove large broken branches, however, get professional help rather than trying to climb a tree and cut it yourself, which can be dangerous and land you in the hospital.

When a large bough snaps, it may tear off part of the trunk and the scars left behind can lead to decay and possibly disease. A certified arborist can assess the potential impact of this sort of wound on a tree's lifespan. If a tree looks like it could fall or drop another limb, it may be better to remove it altogether.

If high winds have uprooted a young or newly planted tree, straighten it and stake it as soon as possible after removing broken or damaged limbs.

One way to prevent future damage from storms is what joshuatree.com calls “structural pruning for storm damage protection.” This means, in addition to proper and regular pruning, removing defective or weak branches so a tree has a better chance of withstanding snow, ice and high winds.

Now you know what to do, keep warm and – eventually – happy gardening!

Laetitia Sands is a Master Gardener in Dorchester County.