We are all happy when we go out in the early morning to go to work and the temperatures are reasonably moderate. Nobody likes slipping and sliding on ice and snow, with below-zero temperatures. And we talk about the lawns still being green with pride.

But this is too much, in my opinion. My experience in 40 years of gardening is that warm winters with little snow lead to a Spring/Summer seasons in which diseases are way above average years. And should we get a real cold-snap in February without snow-cover, the losses of perennials and bulbs are very high. Winter Kill of PR is also high in cold areas when there is no snow-cover and a cold-snap occurs - especially if there is a period of windy, cold, dry weather.

Be careful what you wish for - this may be a humdinger of a disease year if this continues. Where I live, there are roughly seven weeks of "real winter" left. I for one am hoping for a return to a normal winter.

No dissent here. I'm hoping for reasonable cold weather to set blossom on the bulbs, as well.

Although lawns still being green? Dude, mine's green during a normal winter.

No arguments about lawns that can be made to stay green (through intensive cultural practices) in a normal year. It's the "typical lawn" that's not going through the normal phases that I'm concerned with. If one normal phase (winter dormancy) is being inexplicably skipped, what other normal processes (like pathogens not being killed off by cold temperatures) are being skipped also?

I worry about this too. I feel that winter in my area is a way for nature to get a fresh start. What survives will prosper and what dies, bugs big and small, will die or be in smaller numbers. I would have preferred to have a constant snow cover and some wicked cold temperatures.

Its still early, and plenty of time to still turn cold and snowy- we generally get the most snow around her in mid-late February.

I dunno - while late February is the heaviest snow period here, one or two snowfalls isn't enough. We're halfway through the snowfall period of Winter here. A real cold snap in the next couple of weeks without snow cover and I'll have losses to deal with. So, the chances for the "right order" of events is getting scary now.

I had a problem last year in my area. The weather get really warm in the season so things started to open up and bloom. Then we had a harsh cold snap. Alot of plants in my area did horrible where they just stopped growing or never bloomed at all.

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For me, I see more disease, weed germimnation and destruction with heavy snow cover. The stuff acts as a great insulator. Years where there is abnormally high snow cover, I will see a ton of mole/vole damage. A ton of snow mold. poa annua germination and poa triv sprouts in higher numbers. And then prolonged soggy conditions.

So far this winter, we have seen a 10 degree warmer winter but a thin layer of snow cover (but much, much less of it). To me, I am liking that a lot. I have never seen winter kill of my kbg unless you count what the moles/voles destroy, which can be considerable.

There's not much time left here for a good snow; the last is usually about February 20th, and for the next fourteen days it looks to be rain when it's anything at all. Not that we can't get a late-season snowfall, and frequently do, but it's rarely anything much and doesn't last long.

The stuff acts as a great insulator.

Yup.

Years where there is abnormally high snow cover, I will see a ton of mole/vole damage.

That used to be a problem for me, too. Much, much improved since applying Castor Oil just before the ground freezes.

A ton of snow mold. poa annua germination and poa triv sprouts in higher numbers.

The PA and PT actually germinated in Fall. I find PA and PT dies at about the same rate as all other grasses when prolonged exposure to cold, dry winds occur.

And then prolonged soggy conditions.

I find it to be worst in years where the insulation of snow isn't there, and Spring rains fall on deeply frozen soil. That has nowhere to drain.

Daffodils are starting to come up in DC. I checked mine yesterday and none have come up here yet, but it's supposed to be in the low 60s here Tuesday-Thursday of this week. I can remember winters where we might have a warm day here or there, but nothing like this. I wonder if the bugs will be really bad this year because of this. I sure hope not.

This is definitely a good winter for killing poa with Tenacity, last year the snow cover from xmas through late February protected everything from some serious cold (we had quite a few days into the low single digits last year).

I won't have to bother with a second anti-dessicant on the evergreens as the ground has not chance at all of freezing more than a few inches down at this point. Even if we go into single digits again the sun is so much stronger now (and hitting more of the shaded areas) that it won't last.

I'd hate to have a really cold spring, this is like a bit tease and I want to get out there already. I do miss the snow; last year I had a 3 foot base everywhere with drifts from the snowblower approaching 5 feet, that was cool.

Some trees are budding in NC right now. Spring starts at the end of February down here. If we get a cold snap in the last month there will be some confused foliage.

We get nearly all of our precipitation as snow, Warm winters without snow are a disaster for us.If things don't change, I suspect water will run low (run out?) next summer. I'll be okay since my lawn is mostly native, but many lawns will die.

It has been a very mild and wet winter in NC. It doesn’t look like we will see a flake of snow. There is a Redbud tree across the street that is in full bloom and Daffodils are up everywhere. We will have highs of 60-70s this week and the long term forecast through the winter/spring/summer indicates above average temps. This is the warmest winter I can recall.

Here in St. Louis, we are suppose to be in the 60's the next couple of days then 50's. I know there is no correlation but I worry mild winter may be a predictor to warmer Spring/Summer. I was extremely hot here last summer with no rain for several months. No matter how much I watered ( I followed the inch rule), the only grass that did well was the grass shaded by trees.

grassboro wrote:It has been a very mild and wet winter in NC. It doesn’t look like we will see a flake of snow. There is a Redbud tree across the street that is in full bloom and Daffodils are up everywhere. We will have highs of 60-70s this week and the long term forecast through the winter/spring/summer indicates above average temps. This is the warmest winter I can recall.

I have to admit, it's been nice after last years really cold winter. I can't remember a year I was able to successfully spray for lawn weeds in January.
I also have a few deciduous shrubs that are blooming...crazy.

Here on the west coast our plants somehow have not had proper winter either. My pointsettias, grapevine and apple tree did not go dormant this year. The peach tree just dropped its last leaf over this past weekend. The apple tree is starting to bloom with last years leaves still hanging on. My purple plum tree is in bloom and my paintbrush lily is about to bloom. They are at least a month early. My Eastern Redbud should be the first to bloom but it has nothing.

I have never seen this before so I have no idea of what to expect in the garden for our spring/summer seasons this year.

K

Well, entomologists have confirmed my fear that the mild winter we've had is likely lead to a bumper crop of bugs this year! Mosquitoes and ticks and flea - oh my!