Deicing vs Plants

pWinter is technically here. The snow will be coming. Along with that comes deicing salt for the roads that will work it's way up onto the boulevards. This is not a good thing for plants. Salt spray from a busy highway can coat trees as far as 60 feet away. Trees that are susceptible to salt damage, such as red or sugar maples. Around here we don't have busy highways to worry about it , so the distance wouldn't be quite so extreme. It is said the “the best” salt-tolerant tree species for Minnesota are Japanese tree lilac and Ohio buckeye. We have two Japanese lilac trees in our front yard about 10 feet from the road. They have been doing fine for about 12 years. For a list of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs and tips on preventing damage from deicing salt, look for deicing at the U. of Mn. Extension Web site
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