Heidi wrote in
m:

Why is salt bad for the yard? I have heard of people spreading epsom
salt on their yard. Also, I have used elemental sulfur to reduce the
pH in our yard (we seem to have the only alkaline yard in the
area...before the sulfur all my azaleas died...then I had the soil
tested).

I think the technical answer is that sodium chloride, aka table salt
changes the osmotic pressure in the plant and so prevents water (and
therefore nutrients) from going to where they need to be. I've heard it
compared to people who have high blood pressure and high salt diets. I
suppose the extra chlorine can't be good either.

But the above might be a lot of hooey, as I'm not a botanist or chemist.

I don't know about epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), although I've jumped
on the bandwagon and given some to my tomatoes.

As for the sulphur, azaleas like acid soils and probably have problems
absorbing nutrients if the pH is too high.

-- Salty