Hunkering down for a hard winter? Don’t forget to take the proper steps to protect your lawn from the perils of winter – including salt damage.  

If you have ever welcomed spring with a brown lawn and stunted shrubs, you know how dangerous too much salt can be on your landscaping.  Sure, it may be necessary to keep your dive and walkways cleared during those storms, but be careful how you treat them – or pay the price in a few months. Using standard rock salt to keep ice at bay this winter can dry out plant roots and leave your soil toxic. So what’s the answer? Here are some tips to help safeguard your lawn during even the harshest winter.

Use Physical Barriers to Block Toxic Salt  

If you live along a busy roadway, you may notice damage to your lawn along the street due to salt sprays used by municipalities to clear roads in the winter. You can’t stop those road crews from spraying, but you can help block those chemicals from reaching your lawn.  Add a decorative stone border to your property or line the walkway with a brick border. Even lining sensitive areas with burlap (or some other landscape cover) can help reduce salt damage to your grass and plants. 

Shovel Early – and Shovel Often

Reduce your own need to use salt on walkways and your private drive by shoveling now throughout the storm. If you wait to clear ice and snow after a storm has passed, the odds are good you will need a little deicing help. 

Spread the Snow Around

When shoveling areas that have already been treated, be sure to alternate where you place the snow. This will help keep one area of your lawn from being contaminated beyond repair.

Find a Salt Alternative

When looking for a good deicer for your own property, seek out chemical-free alternatives like sand or cat litter. There are plenty of environmentally friendly alternatives to rock salt that are not only effective but safe.

Prevent Over-salting

It is easy to over salt an area when you are in a hurry and need to clear your walkways fast. But remember, you only need a handful or so for a standard walkway. If you can see clumps of salt lying on the ground, you have used too much. Another safety strategy is to sweep up those loose granules once the snow and ice has melted away. This will keep it from making its way into your soil and causing damage.

Get Professional Help

Keep your lawn healthy and strong all year long by bringing in the experts at Meyers Green Service to handle those mid-winter landscaping needs. Call today to find out how to safeguard your lawn this winter so you can enjoy a beautiful worry-free one in the spring.