Salt can enter the landscape and affect landscape plants in two ways, salt spray accumulating on plants near roads and salt accumulation in the soil from runoff near walkways and roads. Salts containing sodium damage plant tissues by pulling water from cells causing desiccation. Salts in soil affect plants both by making soil conditions less than optimal and by disturbing plant physiological processes when sodium is taken up by plant roots.

Damage from salt spray tends to be more easily diagnosed since it generally occurs on the side-facing roads. The physiological symptoms will show the following spring after salt spray accumulation the previous winter. The damage may be more severe on the side of the plant facing the road. Salt build-up in the soil causes symptoms that may not be as obvious and can take longer to show. During the growing season, it can be difficult to tease out damage from salt accumulation in the soil from other potential reasons for poor plant performance. The first step in diagnosing salt damage on plants is by recognizing the plant’s location relative to where de-icing salts have been used. If you suspect that salt may be causing problems in your landscape, here are some symptoms to look for and some tips to help reduce salt damage.

Symptoms of Salt Spray Damage

Sensitive plants may break dormancy later in the spring
New growth may be smaller, deformed, or off-color particularly on the side facing a road
Fewer or no flowers particularly on the side facing a road
Un-even growth resulting from buds and stems dying back particularly on the side facing a road
Witch brooms on branch tips of deciduous trees and shrubs from repeated dieback of branch tips. This

is common on trees located next to highways
Evergreens near roads turn brown on old needles before new growth in spring on the side facing the

road

Symptoms of Salt Accumulation in Soils
New growth may be smaller, deformed, or off-color
Reduced flowering or smaller flowers
Browning or scorched look to leaf margins
Early fall coloration indicating plant stress
Browning of both old and new needles on evergreens
General lack of vigor

Tips to Avoid Salt Damage
Choose salt-tolerant plants
Install soil berms so salt runoff doesn’t accumulate in soils surrounding roots
Use more plant-friendly de-icers
Cover susceptible plants with a barrier to reduce salt spray accumulation
Flush soils prone to salt runoff in the spring as soon as soils thaw
Apply gypsum to help take up sodium on heavy clay soils
Install plants at a distance from roads and walkways where salt spray and runoff are a problem

Salt Tolerant Plants *Indicates plants considered highly salt tolerant

Trees

Acer platanoides* Amelanchier spp Betula nigra
Ginkgo biloba Gleditsia triacanthos* Larix spp

Nyssa sylvatica Picea pungens Pyrus spp
Quercus alba Quercus bicolor Quercus rubra Syringa reticulata* Taxodium distichum

Shrubs

Amelanchier spp Aronia spp
Berberis thunbergii* Buddleia*

Clethra alnifolia Euonymus alatus* Forsythia intermedia Hibiscus syriacus Hydrangea mac.* Ilex glabra

Ilex verticillata Juniperus virginiana* Ligustrum spp
Pinus mugo* Potentilla fruticosa* Philadelphus
Rosa rugosa*
Salix discolor*
Salix purpurea* Spiraea spp
Syringa spp

Groundcovers

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi* Euonymus fortunei* Hedera helix*
Juniperus horizontalis* Rhus aromatica*
Norway maple Serviceberry River Birch

Honeylocust
Larch
Black Gum
Colorado Blue Spruce Pear

White Oak
Swamp White Oak Red Oak
Japanese Tree Lilac Baldcypress

Serviceberry Chokeberry Japanese Barberry Butterfly Bush Summersweet Burning Bush Forsythia

Rose of Sharon
Big Leaf Hydrangea Inkberry Winterberry Eastern Red Cedar Privet
Mugo Pine Shrubby Cinquefoil Mockorange Rugosa Rose Pussywillow
Blue Arctic Willow Spirea
Lilac

Bearberry Wintercreeper English Ivy Spreading Juniper Gro-Low Sumac
Perennials

Achillea
Allium* Artemesia Asclepias Aquilegia* Armeria*
Asters*
Baptisia australis Coreopsis Delasperma Dianthus* Digitalis Eryngium* Gaillardia* Hemerocallis* Iberis

Iris siberica
Iris spp. Leucanthemem Liriope
Monarda didyma Nepeta
Oenothera caespitosa Paeonia

Perovskia* Phlox subulata Salvia
Sedum Sempervivum Thymus spp Veronica

Vines

Campsis radicans* Hedera helix*

Parthenocissus quinquefolia*

Ornamental Grasses

Calamagrostis Festuca Miscanthus Panicum virgatum Pennisetum alopec. Schizachyrium
Yarrow Ornamental Onion Silvermound Butterfly Weed Columbine
Sea Thrift
Aster
False Indigo Tickseed
Ice Plant
Dianthus
Foxglove
Sea Holly
Blanket Flower Daylily
Candy Tuft Siberian Iris Bearded Iris Shasta Daisy Lilyturf
Bee Balm
Catmint
Evening Primrose Peony
Russian Sage Creeping Phlox Meadow Sage Stonecrop
Hens & Chicks Creeping Thyme Speedwell

Trumpet Creeper English Ivy Virginia creeper

Feather Reed Grass Blue Fescue Grass Maiden Grass Switch Grass Fountain Grass Little Bluestem
This is not a total compilation of salt-tolerant plants or our inventory.