Why Cold and Snow Matter: An Ode to the New England Winter

Yes, it’s cold.

It’s slushy.

& when the wind somehow finds its way through a buttonhole or up the back of your shirt, it can be downright shocking.

But truth be told, New England winters matter, a lot.

The frozen ground, the snow, the bare trees and their sleeping buds are not inconveniences so much as essential cycles in the rhythm of our lives and landscapes. Without them, our gardens, forests, and even our summers would begin to unravel.

While it often goes unnoticed, winter does real work.

Here are a few reasons these cold months matter more than we often give them credit for.

Cold is nature’s reset button.

Long sustained cold temperatured keeps New England's delicate ecosystems in balance. These sub-freezing temperatures keep environmental pests at bay, knocking back populatetions that would otherwise explode without the deep frosts of Winter. Think ticks (shudder), mosquitos, harmful fungi and other pathodens. When temperatures stay below freezing, these guys loose their advantage keeping us safer in the summer months.

Snow is insulation, not just decoration.

A healthy snowpack is a down blanket for the soil. It buffers plant roots from extreme temperature swings, especially during freeze–thaw cycles that can literally lift perennials out of the ground. Without that protective layer, bare soil freezes deeper and harder, stressing plants that are otherwise perfectly suited to this region.

Snow doesn’t just sit there—it protects.

Plants need winter to know when to wake up.

Many trees, shrubs, and perennials require a certain number of cold “rest hours” throughout their life cycles. Apples, lilacs, peonies, blueberries - while not necessarily native, are staples of the New England landscape - depend on Winter cold to regulate flowering and fruiting. Warm winters confuse them, leading to weak blooms, poor harvests, or early bud break followed by frost damage. We’ve seen that confusion play out in recent years.

Snow stores water for later.

That slow, muddy melt in March and April matters more than we realize. Snowpack feeds groundwater, recharges aquifers, and delivers moisture gradually - right when plants begin to grow. Rain rushes off the soil while snow sinks in. Fewer snowy winters mean drier soils when we need water most.

Forests depend on it.

Our ecosystems evolved with cold. Sugar maples need freezing nights and thawing days for sap to flow. Many native seeds rely on cold stratification to germinate at all. Wildlife times breeding, migration, and food storage around predictable winter conditions. Change winter, and the entire system suffers.

And yes—people need it too.

There’s a reason New England culture, from stone walls to wood stoves, is shaped by winter.

Winter slows us down. It creates contrast. Snow reflects light during the darkest months, quiets the land, and gives it a chance to rest.

Personally, I love Winter. Strapping on snowshoes or cross-country skis and disappearing into the woods. Pausing to hear wind moving through the high canopy. Noticing rabbit tracks vanish into the trees. Admiring bark—smooth, rough, spotted, charcoal, amber-drips frozen & under water currents bubbling through the ice, sliding down the surface of a slab of rock— all of these secrets now fully visible without leaves to distract the eye and the cold to make it all possible.

To me, winter strips the forest down and reveals a different kind of beauty. One we don’t get any other time of year.

So when it’s 18 degrees and snowing like crazy, (please, oh please!) remember: this isn’t bad weather. This is protection. It’s maintenance. It's rest. It’s nature doing the work that makes lush gardens, healthy forests, fewer pests, and our ecosystems (which includes US) thrive.

Cold is not the enemy.

& snow is not a failure of the forecast.

They are both part of the deal—and we wouldn’t be here without it.

XX

Much Love,

Jennifer