Written by Admin and published on https://emeraldtreecare.wordpress.com/
When your trees and shrubs show symptoms of water stress, particularly in late winter or early spring, but you’re sure you’ve irrigated them, you might be looking at winter salt damage.
Salt is really good at keeping roads and sidewalks clear of winter snow and ice, but it brings with it some side effects. The most visible side effect is damage (and even death) to both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs.
In this article, we cover how to identify salt-related injury to plants, why it happens, how to prevent salt damage to your trees, and what to do if your trees and shrubs have been affected by winter salt or de-icers.
Table of Contents
Winter Maintenance: Preventing Salt Damage to Trees and Shrubs
Salt is an ingredient that is very useful for melting snow and ice, especially during cold winters in the tri-state area. However, if your trees, shrubs, and landscapes aren’t properly protected, salt and other substances can cause temporary or permanent damage to your precious greens.
The Problem
When applied haphazardly, salt can be absorbed by a plants root structure, causing dehydration and plant stress. This damage doesn’t just stop with the salt that you use on your walkway and driveway. When vehicles spray salts on shrubs, plants and other greens, this can create damage to the leaves, buds and small twigs that make up the plants’ structure. Such damage effects the plants’ cold hardiness, which essentially makes them more susceptible to freeze damage.
The Solution
So what options do you have to keep your walkways safe and your precious greens winter-protected? There are many alternatives to ice-melting products, such as sand or calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), a salt-free melting agent made from limestone and acetic acid. This material causes minimal damage to plants and lawns. Also, consider the location and type of plantings for winter:
Where should my plantings live?
Be mindful of areas where snowplows might pile up snow and avoid planting in those spaces. Taking these steps will help minimize exposure to salt and keep your plantings healthier.
What types of plants should I chose?
If it’s not possible to install plantings where they will avoid salt, de-icing fluids or soils with heavy deposits of sodium chloride, choose plants that can better tolerate those types of conditions.
Before taking a trip to the hardware store and purchasing winter materials, call the experts at Emerald and speak with an Arborist. Based on the terrain of your landscape, an expert can tell you the best materials to help you walkways stay safe, while preventing them from doing damage to your trees, shrubs and landscapes.
Original post here https://emeraldtreecare.wordpress.com/2020/12/21/winter-maintenance-preventing-salt-damage-to-trees-and-shrubs/.
