Each winter, millions of tons of deicing salt are applied to state and municipal roads to keep the roads safe for vehicles to travel. Salt is spread near houses to avoid pedestrian injuries. This is necessary for safety, but did you know excessive salt can cause widespread damage to trees ? possibly leading to permanent decline and even death?
According to the Tree Care Industry Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the tree care industry, even severe salt damage might not be visible on a tree until the end of summer, leaving homeowners wondering what might have caused the problem. In some cases, decline might not be visible for years.
"Salt deposits migrate to the stems, buds and roots of trees," explains Tchukki Andersen, staff arborist with TCIA. "This causes disfigured foliage, stunted growth and severe decline in tree health. Salt runoff washes from pavement into the ground, increasing salt levels in the soil."
There are steps you can take to ward off tree damage from salt.
The Tree Care Industry Association recommends taking the following measures:
·Avoid use of de-icing salt unless necessary. Mix salt with abrasives such as sand, cinders and ash.
· Use alternative deicing salts such as calcium chloride and calcium magnesium acetate.
· Improve drainage of soils. Add organic matter such as activated charcoal or gypsum, and thoroughly leach salt residues from the soil.
· Erect barriers between pavement and plants.
· Plant trees in locations away from any type of salt spray.
· Plant salt-resistant trees in areas where high salt spray is inevitable, i.e. near walkways, driveways or roads.
· Provide adequate irrigation and mulching to reduce water loss.
· Prune properly and add fertilizers to correct nutrient deficiency.
· Control tree damaging diseases and pest infestations.
Find a professional
A professional arborist can assess your landscape and work with you to determine the best salt-resistant trees and shrubs to plant and to care for your existing landscape. Contact the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA), a 72-year-old public and professional resource on trees and arboriculture. It has more than 2,000 member companies who recognize stringent safety and performance standards and who are required to carry liability insurance.
TCIA has the nation's only Accreditation program that helps consumers find tree care companies that have been inspected and accredited based on adherence to industry standards for quality and safety; maintenance of trained, professional staff; and dedication to ethics and quality in business practices.
An easy way to find a tree care service provider in your area is to use the "Locate Your Local TCIA Member Companies" program. You can use this service by calling 1-800-733-2622 or by doing a ZIP Code search on www.treecaretips.org.
Outdoors
January 28, 2010
De-icing salt can harm landscape plants
- Outdoors
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- Safety is vital when working with chain saws STILLWATER -- As Oklahomans clean up after the recent ice storm that left tree limbs shattered or lying around, care should be taken to ensure protection against unintentionally risking an arm or leg being added to the toll.
- Dolese Youth Park Pond teeming with trout for young anglers Oklahoma City resident Gaston Gallant goes fishing nearly every day of the two-month trout season at Dolese Youth Park Pond, a northwest Oklahoma City fishing destination currently teeming with nearly 2,600 rainbow trout.
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De-icing salt can harm landscape plants
Each winter, millions of tons of deicing salt are applied to state and municipal roads to keep the roads safe for vehicles to travel. Salt is spread near houses to avoid pedestrian injuries. This is necessary for safety, but did you know excessive salt can cause widespread damage to trees ? possibly leading to permanent decline and even death?
According to the Tree Care Industry Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the tree care industry, even severe salt damage might not be visible on a tree until the end of summer, leaving homeowners wondering what might have caused the problem. - Making it through That was a cold spell of what we used to call "Biblical proportions." It was made perhaps more interesting locally by the old heat-pump in the house, which died on New Year's Eve. For a week, the household was maintained by an old Franklin stove in the living room, and by the old owner, who had to carry in firewood so it could be fed every hour or so.
- University of Oklahoma team wins college fishing event ZAPATA, Texas -- The University of Oklahoma team of Mark Johnson and Chip Porche won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Division event on Falcon Lake Saturday with six bass weighing 34 pounds, 8 ounces.
- Great Western Feedout entry deadline Friday It is time to start entering for the Great Western Feedout of 2010. For those of you not familiar with it, the Great Western Feedout is a producer information feedback program that allows cattle producers the opportunity to evaluate the genetic merit of the calves they produce for feedlot performance and carcass value following weaning and a winter stocker program.
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Part-time lakes are of full-time importance
For the unlearned, old age is winter, for the learned, it is the season of harvest.
--Hasidic saying
Today's topic is the most important wetlands you've never heard of: Playa lakes and oxbow lakes. Playa lakes are usually saucer shaped natural low places with clay bottoms located in dry landscapes. - Christmas Bird Count yields unexpected rewards What am I doing here? It is incredibly cold morning and I am crouched here in the dark in the willows on the banks of the South Canadian River with a few stalwarts indulging in an activity called "owling.
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Increasing deer population leads to ornamental and garden plant damage
STILLWATER -- With more than a half million white-tailed deer in Oklahoma, many landowners experience nature in its purest sense as the deer can be viewed at close range.
However, this has become a problem over the years as the deer population has increased, forcing thousands of these animals into peripheral suburban areas, leaving homeowners to deal with damage to ornamental and garden plants. -
Wildlife Department to host town hall meeting
Sportsmen will have an opportunity to voice their thoughts on wildlife, hunting and fishing related issues at a town hall meeting hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The meeting, one of a series, is set for 7 p. - More Outdoors Headlines
