During the winter, cities and towns put rock salt on roads to melt snow and ice, and many homeowners use rock salt to melt ice on driveways and sidewalks. Rock salt is extremely corrosive and can cause major damage to the grass if it gets onto your lawn. Here are some strategies you can use to protect your lawn from the effects of rock salt this winter.
Rock salt usually winds up on the edges of lawns where the asphalt and lawn meet. You can lay burlap sacks on the ground at the edge of your lawn. This solution does not look pretty if there is no snow on the ground, but the sacks will not be noticeable once snow has fallen. The burlap sacks will prevent excess rock salt on roads near your house from being sprayed onto your lawn when cars drive by.
Rock salt damages lawns by increasing acidity. You can counteract this effect by putting limestone on your lawn to lower the acidity and keep the grass healthy.
Use less salt to melt ice on your driveway and sidewalk. You can use sand or cat litter instead. These materials will sit on top of the ice and provide traction to prevent people from slipping. These salt-less materials do much less damage to plants than rock salt.
Another solution is to line your lawn with decorative stones. This will create a barrier between your grass and the road so that rock salt winds up on the stones, not on the grass. This is an attractive solution to the problem.
