5 Snow Shoveling Strategies You Should Know
You might look at this title and think, “I know how to shovel snow, I don’t need someone to tell me how to do it,” and you’re right. Shoveling snow isn’t incredibly complicated, and once you’ve done it, you can do it again. But what if there were shoveling strategies you could use to finish the job faster or to reduce the amount of snow on your property in the morning?
We’re not suggesting you don’t know how to shovel snow, we’re only suggesting ideas on how to do it even better, and make life easier for yourself. We also have some tools that you can use that will help you clear your driveway and yard of snow.
Snow Shoveling Strategies To Help You
Some of our strategies suggest that you use special materials, new tools, or shovel snow at specific times. Each way is meant to optimize how you shovel so you spend less time in the morning clearing your property. For many people, the work day doesn’t stop because of snow, and you can’t let it stop you from getting to work. Let’s make the trip a little easier.
#1. Make Sure You Have the Right Shovel
You’re probably wondering what the “right shovel” is. While any shovel will work, a shovel meant for digging dirt will take forever for you to use. Dirt shovels and other types not meant for snow can also easily break against the ground or chip anything they hit. You want a snow shovel that’s made of plastic, wide in shape, and has a bent shaft to allow you to maneuver how you need it to.
Our bent snow shovel is the perfect snow shovel because it’s a perfect weight, and it can scoop up a lot of snow all at once. Plus, the bend in the shaft reduces how much weight you have to lift, how high you have to lift the snow, and how far you have to reach out. It’s designed to directly pick up the snow laying right at your feet. You won’t find a better shovel.
#2. Throw Down Ice Melt Before it Snows
Ice melt is good at absorbing moisture from what it touches. Lay it down on along the paths of your driveway before it snows. When it does, the ice melt will reduce a lot of the snow to water and slush you can easily shovel away.
The best ice melt that we offer is also great to use after the snow has fallen and turned into ice. While it can prevent a lot of ice from forming and snow from sticking to the ground, if you had heavy snowfall, you’ll still have some left over. If this is the case, lay down more ice melt to get rid of the ice faster.
While salt does the same as ice melts, it does not work as fast or melt as much. Ice melt is also made of weaker corrosive materials than salt. This means ice melt will damage your car far less, but you should still get your vehicle’s undercarriage washed after laying down salt.
#3. Clear Your Walkways
Being able to get from your door to your car, or anywhere else you need is the most important thing. Clear off your porch, your walkways, and decks before you start walking. Concrete walkways especially need to be cleared. Water and snow freeze faster over concrete than other materials such as asphalt. This makes it dangerous. Despite the layer of snow, if you fall on concrete, it will hurt. Once you can walk to your car and anywhere else you need to be on your property, you’re in a good position.
#4. Clear Your Car Before You Driveway
After you clear a direct path to your car, your car comes before everything else in your driveway. Even if you have several inches surrounding your car, you want to get the snow off your car first. If you shovel around your car, then clear it off, you’re just knocking snow onto the clean ground. You might as well wait to get it all cleared at once.
This saves you time on clearing the snow later, and the frustration that comes with doing work over again. It may not feel like much, but the lack of frustration can help make your day easier.
#5. Shovel as the Snow is Falling
If it's snowing before you go to sleep, and will snow after you sleep, go out the night before and shovel the snow that’s already sticking to the ground. You can’t stay awake and shovel everything, but once the snow starts sticking to the ground, the snow will get higher and higher. Basically setting the snowfall back to zero will drastically slow down how much snow you wake up to. You may still have a lot of snow on the ground, but you will have less to shovel than your neighbors that did nothing about it.
Contact Pioneer Landscape Centers for Snow Shoveling Strategies
Several of these strategies require materials you can get from your local Pioneer Landscape Centers. Winter may not be here yet, but snow will come whether it's winter or fall. Make sure you’re not snowed in when you have to get to work with these snow shoveling strategies. Make sure you have everything you need by contacting your local Pioneer Landscape Centers.