How to Protect Your Landscape from Road Salt

Helpful Tip
Don’t forget to shovel around your mailbox, garbage cans and other areas you’ll need to access.

Shovel snow toward where you’ll be piling it so that you’ll have less distance to toss it as you start to tire. Chip away any ice that you find under the snow with an ice chipper and remove it with the shovel. Push snow out of the way when and where possible. Only pile on as much snow as you can handle on your shovel. Don’t overdo it, and don’t bend with your back—always lift with your knees.

Safety Alerts!
Shoveling snow and removing ice can be tiring, hard work. Be careful, especially if you are not physically fit. If you have medical or health issues, such as a heart condition, you should check with your doctor before doing this kind of work. Stay hydrated; as with exercising, drinking plenty of water is a necessity when shoveling.

Remember to dress appropriately by wearing layers. As you work, you’ll warm up so shedding a layer or two will make work easier and more comfortable. Wear work gloves and snow boots as well.

Keep in mind that you’re not in a race. You don’t need to finish the job in one long shoveling session. It’s best to work for 30 to 45 minutes and then go inside to warm up and rest for an hour or so. Then, when you’re feeling up to it, head back out.

Helpful Tip
When battling the snow with your shovel, be sure you don’t shovel snow and ice that contains salt onto any of the surrounding vegetation.

Step 4: Use Alternatives to Road Salt in the Winter

Consider alternatives to using rock salt (sodium chloride). Two common deicers are calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. These two can still be toxic in high concentrations. The same rules with salt apply here: use these deicing compounds sparingly. Note that deicers with magnesium chloride may contain a cyanide derivative or potassium chloride, which can cause damage to your landscape.

Helpful Tip
Rock salt is limited by temperature. It only works at temperatures just below freezing. Anything colder than that and it is ineffective. Calcium chloride and magnesium chloride deicers work in very cold temperatures.

For the best selection, visit your local True Value® hardware store early in the season to get deicing compounds. If you wait until a big storm hits, you may not have many choices and will be forced to use rock salt.

Calcium magnesium acetate is the most environmentally safe product to remove ice. It won’t corrode metals or cause significant harm to plant life. It is allegedly as corrosive as normal tap water and in varying concentrations can be effective against ice down to around -18°F.

Sand is another option that has been used for decades. While it doesn’t necessarily melt snow and ice, it does provide traction on slippery surfaces. Because it’s natural, it won’t contaminate soil and lead to landscaping problems. The downside is it’s not as effective as a deicer. Cat litter has also been used in the same way as sand to boost traction, but it can make a mess—you don’t want to track it into the house.

Helpful Tip
Remember that deicers are not substitutes for shoveling and breaking up ice. They should be used as a means to make it easier to remove snow with a shovel.

Step 6: Assess/Repair Any Damage

After a thaw, survey your landscape to see if you can see any spots where salt may have affected plant life. If feasible, water your lawn or flower beds adjacent to concrete surfaces to flush salt from leaves and soil. Or you can brush salt and snow off of plants with a broom, which will lessen any damage.

Good job! Now you should have a better handle on how to walk that line between plant protection and personal safety.

Project Shopping List

Here’s what you’ll need to complete this project successfully.

• Snow shovel
• Ice chipper
• Safety work gloves
• Snow boots
• Rock salt (optional)
• Calcium chloride or magnesium chloride (optional)
• Calcium magnesium acetate (optional)
• Sand (optional)
• Cat litter (optional)
• Burlap screens, plastic fencing or snow fencing (optional)
• Broom (optional)