Despite a mild start, this winter most likely will include snow and ice at some point. Deicing salts will be used to help assure safety on sidewalks, driveways, and parking areas. In residential areas, trees, shrubs, lawns, and other landscape plantings can be damaged by deicing salts accumulating in the soil, either deposited directly from plowing or through runoff as snow melts in spring. Diagnosing salt damage can be difficult. General decline of plants can be due to a variety of factors.
Plants take up chloride from salts accumulating in the soil.
This can lead to dieback and decline. In addition, sodium from salts may destroy soil structure, causing more plant problems. Most damage will occur within 30 feet of the roadway or parking lot. Salt damage depends on a variety of factors, including type and amount of salt, timing of application and species of plants. Sodium chloride, although cheaper, is more damaging to plants than sources such as calcium chloride.