Deicing salts can save your neck this winter, but they can spell disaster for landscape plants. Whether the salt is sprayed on the plants from passing traffic near the road or is shoveled onto plants near the sidewalk, the salt can cause damage.
Salts can adversely affect plants in several ways.
Salts deposited on the surface of twigs, branches, and evergreen leaves can cause excessive drying of foliage and roots. They can be taken up by plants and accumulate to toxic levels. Salts can also cause a nutritional imbalance by changing the chemistry of the soil and can directly harm soil structure. The most apparent damage from salts is death of buds and twig tips as a result of salt spray. As the tips of the plants die, the plant responds by growing an excessive number of side branches.