Road salt, primarily composed of sodium chloride, plays a crucial role in ensuring safety during winter weather. When applied to icy surfaces like roads, sidewalks, and driveways, it lowers the freezing point of water, helping melt snow and ice and reducing the risk of slips, falls, and accidents. However, when road salt seeps into your garden, it can cause serious problems, negatively affecting plant health and degrading soil quality.
Understanding how road salt affects your garden is crucial for taking preventive measures. Ahead, experts highlight the adverse effects of road salt on gardens and offer valuable tips to safeguard your plants and soil from its harmful effects.
Tom Groves, senior botanist at BSC Group and a certified ecological restoration practitioner
Eric Nieusma, co-owner of Maine Hill Farm
How Road Salt Affects Your Garden
Even if you aren’t salting your driveway or walkways close to your garden beds, it can still wreak havoc on plant matter. “Salt applied to roadways can affect areas directly in the vicinity of the roadway and up to 1,000 feet from the roadway,” says Tom Groves, senior botanist at BSC Group. Here, our experts explain the damage deicing salt can cause to your garden soil and plants.
Compacts the Soil
Over time, road salt accumulates in the soil, damaging its structure and increasing the likelihood of compaction. Compacted soil limits aeration and water filtration, both of which are essential for the health of soil and plants. This compaction severely hinders a plant’s root system, leading roots to grow shallowly and spread horizontally rather than deep. As a result, plants become more susceptible to drought and have poor anchoring.
Causes Nutrient Displacement
Healthy soil requires optimum nutrient availability. Road salt interferes with garden soil nutrients by allowing sodium ions to displace essential elements such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium from soil particles. As a result, these critical nutrients become unavailable to plants, depriving them of vital resources. This disruption ultimately leads to nutrient deficiencies, negatively impacting plant health and growth. Additionally, salt raises the soil pH, disrupting beneficial fungi and ecosystem balance.
Harms Plant Health
Too much salt in the soil can prevent water absorption, causing root damage and making plants more susceptible to pests and diseases, says Groves. He adds that plants sensitive to higher salt levels can alter the soil’s chemical composition. This change can adversely affect other salt-sensitive plants, leading to vegetation loss, increased plant mortality, and a higher risk of erosion.
How to Prevent Road Salt from Harming Your Garden
Here are some simple adjustments to make in winter that will keep your pathways safe while protecting your garden beds.
Grow Native, Salt-Tolerant Plants
While you may not be able to prevent road salt from being used along your roadways, try planting native salt-tolerant species that are adapted to survive higher salt concentrations, says Groves. These plants have thrived in salty conditions through many years of adaptation, making them an ideal choice for planting. To achieve roadside salt tolerance, consider growing a mix of goldenrod, asters, bee balm, and black-eyed Susan. Consulting with local nurseries can help you select the best varieties suited to your growing zone.
Apply Compost
Compost is a valuable ally for gardens, especially when attempting to counter the effects of road salt. Add 1 to 2 inches of top dressing before the winter months roll in. This will protect garden beds from road salt by improving the soil’s physical structure and buffering capacity, enhancing drainage, and reducing salt accumulation in the topsoil.
Add Gypsum
Gypsum, or calcium sulfate dihydrate, is a soft sulfate mineral valued for its use in construction, agriculture, and food. “Applying gypsum to garden beds helps neutralize residual salts and reduces sodium’s harmful effects,” says Eric Nieusma, co-owner of Maine Hill Farm. “It improves soil structure, adds calcium, and is cost-effective.” Nieusma recommends choosing a solution-grade gypsum, which is a fine powder that can be mixed with water and poured into the soil or sprinkled over it. For best results, apply 1 to 2 pounds of gypsum per 100 square feet in the fall, making sure to follow the packaging instructions.
What to Do When Road Salt Gets Into Your Garden
Managing deicing salt in your garden requires different strategies depending on the season.
In the Spring
Flush the soil: The best way to address road salt that seeps into your garden beds is to “flush” the soil, says Nieusma. “This involves running a hose over the soil and thoroughly soaking it, which will help wash away excess salts,” he says. Immediately flushing the soil with large amounts of fresh water will dilute and leach salts below the root zones.Remove crystals: During spring cleaning of your garden beds, remove any remaining salt crystals. Although this task requires attention to detail, it will prevent the crystals from dissolving into the soil.
In the Winter
Shovel salt-laden snow: “Keep salt-laden snow piles off the garden beds and away from plants by shoveling,” says Nieusma. It’s best to do this regularly to reduce the chances of salt seeping into your garden.Use a barrier: Covering your garden beds with breathable material, such as burlap, during winter protects them from road salt spray. Make sure the material is appropriately secured with stakes or rocks to keep the barrier in place. Apply the burlap barrier in early winter, before snow falls, to ensure ideal protection from road salt.
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