When the temperature in late November, early December is too warm, the Maine lawn and field grass stays green.

Too seasonally warm high temperatures of weather messes up the Christmas tree cutting too. That starts even earlier around Halloween. Too high temps out in the Christmas tree plantation when the cutting is done means lots of early spills. And the old spruce, fir or pine tree plastered with lights, garland, all those decorations peters out early.

Plays out long  before the egg nog, divinity white fudge, coconut mocca balls and peanut brittle is finished up. When it’s time to pack up the ornaments, check off another December 25th sliding down the chimney surprise and that’s all she wrote for another ending year on the kitchen calendar.

Cold hardened Christmas trees keep better after harvest, and better withstand exposure to low temperatures.

No snow and dodging the weather dip in temperatures to cause it in Maine. Means no kick in the pants. To get those last fallen leaves raked or mulched or burned annual drill that is put off too.

Fall hangs on as trips to deer hunting camps in Maine stop. And the snow sleds, Jiffy ice auger for lake fishing and bags of rock salt get put in entry ways, on enclosed Maine home porches. To sprinkle and melt your walk ways, around your yard. Once the blanket of snow arrives one flake at a time and slip and slid ice ice baby is part of the outdoor winter maintenance.

Plowing that snow is debated the first storm in Maine when it is wet, the ground not yet frozen. Sometimes just let it be like the Beatles song suggests. Leave it alone, let there be a first level snow base to pack down, build on to protect the terra firma underneath. Unless your back enjoys more spring lawn yard work with the steel rake and wheel barrow. To collect, replant the torn up sod way over here that needs to be trotted back to the bald spot on the lot for the re-plugging like a divot up here.

Often there is not a need to mess with a couple inches because the ground is warm, the temperature often spikes up enough to have all the new snow melt away in a day or so. Problem solved.

False starts and stops like labor for a child happen with Maine winter snow handling. Until snow that finally lasts actually sticks around in Maine. But if you don’t plow the new wet snow and like farming judge the Maine weather patterns ahead wrong, bad things happen. Solid ice, concrete hard snow formations can make things difficult to clear and wing back to leave space for more snow to come. It becomes like moving rocks and boulders.

Either way, wet heavy snow or solid glued, welded to the ground and one giant piece snow banks. Those are hard on whatever you use to plow or snow blow the early Christmas gift from the heavens.

Half frozen slushy watery snow. Great for snow ball fights. But the problem with early snow before frost starts to toughen up the landscape is the digging into the soil.

Depositing the scraped lawn and soil “shavings” into the roll over of snow with the angled plow. The plow truck operator can hoist the blade a little to try to easy does it push the snow in the driveway out over the soft lawn.

But you need enough momentum to keep the heavy wet snow moving like little doggies being herded. In the direction you want off to both sides of a clogged Maine home driveway.

And that is where no matter how much you try, how careful you are, digging in to the lawn skimming can not be avoided. A bounce of the bucking force of pushing hard into the rolling snow. It pushing back as more piles up out front the Fisher or Meyers or Boss whatever brand winter snow plow used that makes a mess of things.

 You study the weather channel, hope for warm or cold temperatures to know just how to handle what Jack Frost and Mother Nature dished up. Deposited working in tag team.

But the 32 degree temperature hovering and the waiting game just clearing the ends of the driveway where the state highway snow plows are vigilant keeping those major and side road arteries open.

That is the tough part. Of trying to do more than you need because if you don’t it will mean call in a pay loader time. Or extra stress on the equipment. Even lots of white fluffy light flake accumulations has it’s challenges to plow. But the ground underneath does not get scarred and scraped if you are easy does it plowing snow in Maine.

Something you never think of if a shovel for snow removal around your house steps is a foreign operation where you hang your hat.

And it’s pass the sun screen time all the year round. In places where Santa adds wheel attachments to the sleigh runners to tool around the sunny south, southwest sections of the nation.

Where it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas involves sand, palm trees and the standard candy canes, mistletoe and ho ho home for the holidays red and green ribbons where the only snow happens when you defrost the freezer.

Hope you have been good, stay that way for a few more weeks. And get everything on your list for Christmas this year. Merry Christmas faithful Me In Maine Blog readers and Happy New Year while we’re at it extending holiday best wishes.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA