Jim Schott wrote:
Does anyone know of a brand or type of salt to use in snow/ice areas
of the
country?
The regular salt for melting ice washes off when the ice melts and
runs into
some of our
ornamental shrubs and perennials. This always results in plants
nearest to
the runoff dying by spring. Any suggestions are appreciated.


Any de-icing agent will run-off when the ice melts. The only other way
to melt the ice is with heat, which is very expensive. (Also, back
during the "energy crisis" in the '70s some snowbelt states, such as
Wisconsin, passed laws restricting the use of heated pavement.)

Rock salt is NaCl. Essentially it's big, dirty chunks of the same stuff
that's used for table salt. When the temperature drops below 20-degrees,
straight NaCl looses it's effectiveness. Many highway departments will
spray their truckloads of rock salt with calcium chloride, which
continues to be very effective even below zero. However it is far more
corrosive than plain sodium chloride.

There are other de-icers out there, but they're far more expensive than
rock salt, and probably not cost effective in the large quantities that
you must be using for it to cause significant damage to plants. (If the
run-off is just from a sidewalk or a typical residential driveway,
you're using too much if it's killing the plants. Run-off from a huge
parking lot or a wide roadway could be enough to cause damage, depending
on the level of application as well.)

I would suggest shoveling walks and driveways, and only lightly salting
any remaining icy spots. Also keep in mind that sunlight will do a lot
to melt the snow as well. You could also mix the salt with sand. The
sand, as long as it's not applied too heavy, will allow for traction
until the salt can melt the remaining ice.

--
Warren H.

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