Tyler-Too along Grant Avenue near Jackson Street in German Village. Chris Friman, an employee at Village Petals on Grant, uses calcium chloride on the brick sidewalk. You might try it if you're running low on the potpourri of chemicals now available to de-ice your drives and walks. Fertilizer contains urea, making it a fairly effective ice melter.
Hardware stores say people snap it up when regular ice-melting products are sold out.
In fact, fertilizer is what the city of Columbus uses to de-ice brick and granite sidewalks, because it doesn't damage those surfaces, said Ron Ranney, project manager for the Division of Facilities Management. We've come a long way from the days when rock salt was a staple for slippery home walkways. New this year is magnesium chloride, a spray that coats surfaces so snow and ice won't stick. The product has been used for several years by municipal and state road crews to coat streets, but this is the first year it has hit the residential market. Reilly suggests spraying Freeze Fighter before snow falls.