MINIMIZE ROAD SALT
DAMAGE TO STREET TREES

Look around Albany residential
neighborhoods. Observe street
trees damaged by road salt.

Read:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/dd1413.html


Best option is to have the cash
strapped city  stop excessive
expensive salting.

Meanwhile, homeowners should
incorporate organic matter and
gypsum into upper half foot of soil
around trees, within the drip lines.
Thoroughly water/flush the soil
to reduce salt accumulations and
thereby permit plant roots to absorb
nutrients and water from the soil.

Select and plant salt tolerant
young replacement trees.
Establish them before older
trees die and are removed.

Salt spray from passing vehicles
damages/kills buds of deciduous
trees/plants as well as needles of
conifers.

When the excessive road salt
drys and become airborne, salt
laden winds sandblast our home
exteriors requiring more frequent
painting/repairs.

The resultant air pollution is a
health risk to all who breathe
the air in urban places, especially
like Albany which sits on a
former glacial lake bed, surrounded
by highlands.

Take a ride to the Thacher Park
overlook and see if you can
detect Albany beneath the smog
of salt laden air in March and April.

The State Office Campus is a
dumping ground for excessive
amounts of road salt every winter.

The same is true of shopping center
parking lots like Colonie Center
and Crossgates, as well as
supermarket parking lots everywhere.



                    Joe Sullivan