Experts in Lawn Care in McLean VA Teach You How to Prevent Winter Salt Damage

Salt damage – because of winter de-icing efforts – represents a terrible problem for your lawn all season long. Salt decomposes in its main elements once it reaches the soil, damaging the plants’ and grassroots. While we all appreciate our cities’ good intentions to keep our streets and driveways free of ice, de-icing rock salt is dangerous during the season. Our specialists in lawn care in McLean VA are here today to provide you with secure solutions to prevent salt damage.

1. Create Barriers in Between Your Lawn and the Street

When the city plow truck starts spreading rock salt in the streets, the salt inevitably reaches your plants if you have a street-front lawn/yard. Our lawn care service company in McLean VA have some suggestions for you:

  • Avoid too much salt reaching your plants and grassroots by shielding them with burlap sheets. It will also protect your more sensitive plants from winds and, perhaps, blizzards.
  • Add temporary shielding fences, at least until winter ends. The barriers will put a stop to the salt infiltrating too deep into the ground.
  • While unaesthetic, you can also build provisory barriers from rocks or wood pallets.

One idea people vehicles around are to use plastic sheets to protect your front-street plants. Our specialists in lawn care in McLean VA recommend you to refrain from such practices. Installing plastic covers and sheets can create a greenhouse. In turn, it can lead to the plants developing new leaves, which most likely would die during the cold temperatures at night.

2. Use Salt Alternatives

The corrosion created by rock salt and the lawn damages that can ensue is avoidable if you replace the traditional rock salt with other materials. You need to understand that most such alternatives do not melt ice as ice does. What they do is make surfaces less slippery. Here they are:

  • Kitty litter;
  • Sand (as long as you keep it in a warm and dry place, as it otherwise freezes);
  • Chopped wood pellets.

While you cannot avoid salt ultimately – simply because the city will most likely use it – you can minimize the use of salt when you try to keep your pathways, walkways, and driveway clean and usable.

3. Salt-Free Landscape De-Icing Materials

Talk to your local lawn care experts in McLean VA about landscape-friendly and salt-free de-icing materials. They will advise you on the best practices regarding the prevention of salt damage.