It’s one of nature’s perennial great comeback stories: Grass’ return to vibrant green life after a long, bruising Iowa winter.
Every spring, grass emerges strong as if the last four brutally cold and weather wicked months never happened.
Ever wonder how your lawn does it?
“As the temperature goes down, grass goes dormant due to a process called desiccation. This process occurs in cold and windy areas such as Iowa,” Iowa Science Phenomena notes (how does grass survive iowa winters). “Cold wind causes the grass blades to lose moisture which causes the grass to give its brown appearance without decomposing.”
If only our homes were as self sufficient as grass. That said, grass needs our careful stewardship to ensure it returns with a green flourish come April. When it comes to winter grass threats, few unleash a crueler hurt on turf grass than rock salt.
It’s heaven for keeping driveways and sidewalks safe to walk on but cold, unforgiving hell on grass.
“When subject to high salt levels, grass can suffer root damage that results in increased drought kill and crown and root disease problems,” Colorado State University’s Extension Office stresses. “With the same conditions, bluegrass can turn blue-gray, which indicates drought stress due to excessive soil salts dehydrating the plant’s roots even in moist soils.”
A Salty Situation
Every day across Iowa, salt saves roads, sidewalks, driveways and our behinds from slick and slippery conditions. But when dropped on grass, salt transforms to dehydrating poison.
“We get very thirsty when we eat a bag of salty peanuts, and salt runoff from sidewalks will do the same to your grass,” Southern Living’s Brandee Gruener writes. “If the grass can’t absorb enough water, it will turn brown and die off — often in ugly patches.
And if you notice strips of brown grass along their edges when the snow begins to melt, salt has been drowning your grass with an unhealthy level of sodium. While salt-damaged grass usually rebounds when snow melts and spring rain begins to fall, not all grass can be saved.
When left unnoticed and untreated, salt can kill grass and require the damaged area to be repaired.
Thankfully, the best ways to prevent salt grass damage are easy to implement.
- Cover Lawn Edges Before Using Salt: Burlap sacks or tarps are strong protective barriers.
- Limit Salt Use: The natural tendency when trying to de-ice a slippery surface is to layer it thick with salt. But limiting salt use enables you to avoid salt damage to your lawn.
- Choose Salt Alternatives: Salt is the unrivaled king of de-icers but using safe alternatives like sand, cat litter, coffee grinds and calcium chloride also gets the job done while offering no threat to grass.
- Avoid Sodium Chloride: Unfortunately, the cheapest rock salt option is also the harshest. Magnesium chloride is a costlier but gentler de-icer.
The Salt Damaged Grass Recovery Plan
Thankfully, most salt damaged lawns are not lost causes. The first step to recovery is rinsing affected plants and soil with water as soon as temperatures rise above freezing and snow dissipates.
Soak the affected grass for two to three days to clear any residual salt.
If severe damage has set in, a pelletized gypsum soil conditioner can reverse the hurt. The solution promotes new growth and moisture retention. Be sure to rake out as much dead grass as possible.
Rock salt’s corrosive properties are no friend to grass, robbing it of both moisture and nutrients. Be sure to make sure you keep your salt on your sidewalks and driveways during the deep freeze of February to ensure your grass delivers another green comeback story this spring.
“While it’s hard to imagine surviving harsh winter weather without a bag of rock salt, this seemingly straightforward solution does have a downside,” Gruener said. “Rock salt can burn and kill nearby grass and plants.”
For rock salt and grass mix about as well as oil and water.
