Poor Man's Fertilizer

 

You'll never believe it but we had about three inches of snow last night.  I think I may be ready to move my entire operation to Florida.

Seriously though.  I've read that snow is considered a "poor man's fertilizer" and wondered why.  

Here's what I found:

An old wives tale says that snow is the poor man's fertilizer.  This is true because snow contains the nutrient nitrogen.  The snow lies as a blanket on the ground and slowly percolates through the soft spring soil.  Snow delivers about two to ten pounds of nitrogen per acre per year from the atmosphere to the soil.  This is not a huge amount but is more beneficial than rain because of the slow release and little amount of runoff. (Source: https://www.landscapearchitectureboston.com/spring-snow-the-poor-mans-fertilizer/)

and: 

When snow fall, it captures the ambient nitrogen in the air and preserves it until it melts.  Once it does begin to melt, that nitrogen leeches down into the soil in your yard.  This means that seasonal snowmelt can actually provide your lawn with an early dose of fertilizer to help it rally for spring. (Source: https://www.sublawn.com/understanding-effects-snow-your-lawn/)

Who knew?

So I guess we can look on the bright side when we have an unexpected spring snow!