Well, looking out of the window at the snow-covered garden I am wondering how many of my shrubs I am going to lose this year. Last year due to what was then an unusuallly cold and long period of snow I lost several well established mature bushes. This year this sudden cold spell has caught me out and I was not able to get the protective fleece around the less hardy shrubs. Nor was I able to get the 3 to 4 inch layer of mulch I normally put around the garden. The mulch I use is my own homemade compost, made from all the garden debris from last year.