Protect upright evergreens such as juniper and arborvitae from ice and snow damage by tying up their branches with heavy string, rope, tapes, or a sleeve of netting. Other physical supports include staking or setting up a supportive fence of chickenwire. If the situation allows, construct snow shelters above vulnerable plants--plywood on stilts, or an A-frame made of wood slats.
If possible, allow ice and snow on tree and shrub branches to melt on its own. If its weight threatens to break branches, begin to remove it from bottom branches first, brushing the branches upwards to disperse the snow more broadly as you work toward the higher branches. If your area gets a fair amount of snow each year maintain hedges no wider than 3 feet to prevent breakage. One trick is to shear them to rounded or pointed tops, which shed snow rather than holding it as a flat top would.
Snow is an excellent thermal blanket for low-growing plants such as strawberries and perennial flowers. A heavy snow cover acts like a mulch, maintaining consistent soil temperatures to eliminate freeze-thaw cycles that damage roots and bulbs.
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Dealing with Salt Injury

De-icing salt compounds used on highways, driveways, and sidewalks in the winter contain sodium chloride, sometimes mixed with calcium chloride. Both of these are toxic to woody tissues and soil. They injure trees and shrubs growing near the street when they dissolve in melting snow and ice, soak into the soil, and are taken up by roots into plant tissues. The salt dehydrates roots, stunts growth, and kills leaves and needles--symptoms which usually appear in the spring. It also causes chemical reactions that ruin soil structure and porosity. If possible, try to clear plowed snow away from street-side trees and shrubs because it probably has road salt in it.
Water poisoned soil thoroughly to flush the salt down past plant roots to the deeper soil levels. Use non-toxic alternative de-icers such as construction-grade builder’s sand, wood ashes, clean cat litter, or urea pellets, a fertilizer product available in many hardware stores. Urea is a great snow melter, but avoid scattering it on your shrubs or turf areas, because it is extremely high in nitrogen. To keep it from caking, store it in a moisture-proof container with a tight lid