The use of salt-based products on roads, driveways, and sidewalks during winter poses a challenge to gardeners. Join Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills to learn about the effect of salt spray and salt runoff on plants and soil as well as treatments, the use of alternative products, and protective garden practices. She also introduces the native trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and grasses that have been rated as most salt-tolerant.
Zoom session, recorded January 10, 2025
Video of Presentation
Additional Resources
Managing Salt Damage in Your Garden Handout pdf
Salt-Tolerant Native Plants
Halophytes are plants native to coastal areas and/or species that can tolerate salt spray from roadside salt applications. Those included in the presentation are recommended in at least three of the resources listed below.
Trees
- Eastern Redcedar(Juniperus virginiana) – VT/MA (spray & soil)/NYC/NJ/PA/CB/NN/ VIMS/NBG/NC/SC
- Sweetbay Magnolia(Magnolia virginiana) – NYC/NJ/NN/NBG/NC
- Downy Serviceberry(Amelanchier arborea) – VT/NYC/NJ/CB/NN
- American Holly(Ilex opaca) – NJ/NN/NC/SC
- River Birch(Betula nigra) – VT/NJ/VA
- Black Gum(Nyssa sylvatica) – VT/NYC/NJ
- White Oak(Quercus alba) – ME (High)/MA (soil)/VIMS (spray & soil)
- Red Oak(Quercus rubra) – ME (High)/MA (spray & soil)/ VIMS (spray & soil
Shrubs
- Southern Bayberry(Morella cerifera) – NYC/NJ/CB/VA/NN/NBG/SC
- Common Yucca(Yucca filamentosa) – NJ/CB/NN/NBG/NC/SC
- Sweet Pepperbush(Clethra alnifolia) – VT/NYC/NJ/NN/NBG/SC
- Inkberry(Ilex glabra) – VT/NYC/NJ/NN/NBG/SC
- Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) – VA/NBG/NC/SC
- Black Chokeberry(Aronia melanocarpa) – VT/ NYC/NBG
- Highbush Blueberry(Vaccinium corymbosum) – VT/NYC/NJ
- Red Chokeberry(Aronia arbutifolia) – VT/NYC/NN
Grasses/Sedges/Rushes
- Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) – VT/NYC/NJ/CB/NN/NBG/H
- Little Bluestem(Schizachyrium scoparium) – VT/NYC/NJ/NN/H
- Pink Muhly(Muhlenbergia capillaris) – NJ/H/SC
- Common Rush(Juncus effusus) – VT/NJ/NN/H
- Gray’s Sedge (Carex grayi) – VT/NJ/H
- Sea Oats (Uniola paniculata) – SC
Perennials
- Swamp Rose-mallow(Hibiscus moscheutos) – VT/NYC/CB/NN/NBG/NC
- Eastern Prickly-pear(Opuntia humifusa) – NYC/NJ/CB/NN/NBG/NC
- New England Aster(Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) – VT/NYC/NJ/NBG
- Black-eyed Susan(Rudbeckia hirta) – VT/NJ/NN
- Virginia Blue Flag(Iris versicolor) – VT/NJ/NN
- Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) – VT/NJ/NN
- Butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa) – VT/NN/NC
- Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) – VT/NYC/NJ/CB/NN/NBG/NC/SC
Vine
- Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) – CB/NN/NBG/NC
Resources (Consult for further details.)
- (ME) Tolerance of Trees and Shrubs to Salts in Soil, University of Maine Extension
- (VT) Vermont Rain Garden Plant List, University of Vermont (includes tolerance to salt)
- (NYC) Salt Tolerant Species List, City of New York Parks & Recreation
- (NJ) Salt-Resistant Perennial Plants, New Jersey Cooperative Extension (Rutgers)
- (CB) Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping, (Chesapeake Bay Watershed), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- (VA) Trees and Shrubs That Tolerate Saline Soils, Salt Spray, and De-Icing Salts, VCE Publication 430-031
- (VIMS) Living Shorelines: Plants for Salt Marshes and Upland Banks, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
- (NN) Salt Tolerant Northern Neck Native Plants, Virginia Native Plant Society
- (NBG) Salt Tolerant Plants, Norfolk Botanical Garden
- (NC) Salt Tolerant Plants, North Carolina Cooperative Extension
- (H) Salt Tolerant Grasses, Hoffman Nursery (North Carolina)
- (SC) Salt Tolerant Plants for the South Carolina Coast, Clemson Cooperative Extension