Press Herald interviews Wertheim about pros, cons of ice-melting salt

The Portland Press Herald interviewed Frank Wertheim, an associate extension professor of agriculture/horticulture with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, for an article about balancing the positives and negatives of using rock salt to melt ice. Rock salt can reduce the risk of slipping on icy roads and sidewalks, but also can corrode metal and damage lawns and other plants. “Road salt always has the potential to damage when there isn’t enough moisture to dilute the salt when plants break dormancy in the spring,” Wertheim said. If spring rains are heavy, they will dissolve the residual salt. But if rain is insufficient to remove the salt from soil, plants growing there could effectively experience a drought, according to the Press Herald. Wertheim recommended using a hose in spring to soak the areas where plows dumped the road salt during the winter. And while homeowners do not have control over salt used in public road management, they can control what they do to their own driveway. The article recommended using as little salt as possible, removing deep snow before salting, using a mix of sand and salt, or even leaving the ice alone and wearing cleats or grips over shoes to avoid slipping. UMaine Extension also offers a resource, the GardenPro Answer Book, which lists salt-tolerant plants that people planting a new garden could consider, according to the report. The Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel carried the Press Herald article.