London Snow Removal Guide
With over six feet of snow during an average each year, snow removal in London, Ontario, is serious business. In fact, it is a business for dozens of London landscape maintenance services that turn to snow clearing for the winter months. For many busy professionals, seniors and those with health issues, a snow removal service is the best way to go. It keeps you safe and saves lots of time.
For those in the do-it-yourself camp that want to take care of their own snow clearing, here are some tips to make the process easier and safer.
Plan Before You Shovel
Though it’s tempting to dive right into scraping that freshly fallen snow out of the way, a few minutes of forethought can save much time and effort. The shortest distance and least amount of pushing is from the middle of your drive to both sides. If you don’t have room to collect and pile snow on both sides of the drive, you will have to start on one side and work across to the other.
Use a shovel with a wide blade for pushing. Only use a scooping shovel if you have to lift snow to pile it off the edges of your drive or walk. At some point, snow will accumulate, and you will need more storage space. If successive snows are predicted, push snow further off the drive after the first snow. Save the space closer to the drive for later snows. That means less actual shoveling and lifting.
Ice Melters
Rock salt works fine when temperatures stay close to freezing, but not during extended colder weather. In addition, rock salt is corrosive and harmful to most of your ornamental plants after it builds up in the soil. While not perfect, deicers with calcium chloride and magnesium chloride are gentler and work better at colder temperatures.
For eco-friendly ice melting, look for a deicer with calcium magnesium acetate (CMA). You can also find pet-safe deicers that are better to use if your dogs or cats are going to spend time on your walks or drive.
Deicers work best when applied evenly at the rate listed in the instructions. Putting out more product is not more effective; it wastes money and is harder on the local environment. A lot of granular deicer is accidentally scattered into planting beds. Try to keep it on the surfaces that need it.
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