How to manage salt levels in your lawn

Salt and Your Lawn

If you’re lucky enough to live by the beach, your lawn will cop a fair serve of ocean spray. In some cases it can be completely under water at high tides, so a tolerant variety is a must.

Salty soils prevent your grass from absorbing nutrients and retaining moisture. Salt spray on the blades of the grass can cause burns. Salt in soils are not uncommon and will usually be found in small amounts. It is only a problem when the levels increase, preventing nutrient absorption.

High levels of sodium in water can cause compaction in clay soils which makes it difficult for root development and for the salt water to leach away. In these soil types, you will need to apply gypsum to break down the compacted clay and allow the water to filter through easier.

How to prevent salt damage

Fresh water is your friend when it comes to reducing the salinity in your soil. If you suspect that there has been some damage caused or you have experienced strong coastal breezes, watering your lawn is the best course of action. The sodium will remain on the grass and within the soil until you do this. When watering, make sure you do so for a couple of hours to leach the sodium out of the soil, washing it away from the soil where it is affecting your lawn. Deep, long watering like this will also wash nutrients away from your soil, so it is a good time to follow up with a fertilise.

Choose a salt tolerant turf variety

Compared to most other varieties, buffalo lawns, like Sir Walter DNA Certified, are very salt tolerant. Some types of seashore paspalums are now available and while salt tolerant, they lack other qualities, such as drought tolerance.

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