Has winter been stressing you out? It is very common to use rock salt to help melt off snow and ice, especially to make your daily commute easier, but it is important to understand how rock salt can affect your lawn.
What is Rock Salt?
Rock salt is a type of sodium chloride. Rock salts are mainly used during cold seasons when you want to melt ice and snow in order to clear off the roads. Since rock salt is corrosive, it can damage concrete, asphalt, and metal surfaces.
The dangers occur when the corrosive nature of the rock salts start to dissolve and leak into your lawn and grass plants. The salt can be very toxic to plants. If it is absorbed into the soil, it can kill the plant’s roots. Once the roots are affected, your lawn and plants have less chance of surviving the warm seasons ahead.
Protect Your Lawn
Although using rock salt helps clear up the roads for safety, you need to take precaution to protect your lawn from potential damage. Here are some tips to help protect your lawn from rock salt.
Try to shovel more snow. Shoveling snow will help decrease the amount of rock salt needed to clear off the snow and ice.
Use less rock salt in the areas near your lawn; you want to keep the rock salts from entering your soil to prevent damaging your lawn.
Find alternatives to rock salt. There are various alternatives to rock salts such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride.
Use gypsum if rock salt has damaged your lawn. Gypsum helps move salt away from grass roots.
Put lawn objects around the corners of your lawn. By putting barriers around your lawn, less rock salt will be dissolved into the grass area.
If you are still struggling to protect your lawn due to rock salts and other chemicals, contact your local Lawn Doctor for assistance. Remember, rock salt damages the roots of your plants, so it is critical to take the necessary steps now before winter is over.
By Heirloom Roses
Images courtesy of Heirloom Roses
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