Salt
LSRCA guide
Vegetation[edit]
Vegetation varies in its reaction to soils with high salinity:
- Salt in soil water generally makes it more difficult for roots to take up water. This phenomenon mimics drought conditions for the plant.
- If passing traffic sprays salty water onto plants it can reduce cold hardiness in buds and new twigs. These then become more susceptible to freezing, mortality or deformation.
- In high enough concentrations sodium and chloride can also be directly toxic to plants. In some species the ions are absorbed by the plant and build up in the leaves causing them to die.
Generally, the vegetation growing closest to the source will be most strongly affected by salt. Plants actively growing in late winter (when salt levels are highest) are also more significantly affected. So, warm season grasses offer an advantage over cool season grasses, because they emerge later in the spring when excess salt has been flushed away. Resilient turf grasses are particularly useful in the design of vegetated filter strips, dry ponds and enhanced grass swales. The Ministry of Transportation have standardized a number of grass mixes[1]. The 'Salt Tolerant Mix' is of particular value for low impact development applications alongside asphalt roadways and paved walkways.
| Common name | Scientific name | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Tall Fescue | Festuca arundinacea | 25 % |
| Fults Alkali Grass | Puccinellia distans | 20 % |
| Creeping Red Fescue | Festuca rubra | 25 % |
| Perennial ryegrass | Lolium perrenne | 20 % |
| Hard Fescue | Festuca trachyphylla | 10 % |
External links[edit]
- ↑ Ontario Provincial Standard Specification. (2023). Construction Specification and for Vegetative Cover OPSS.PROV 803. Retrieved from https://tcp.mto.gov.on.ca/notice/000-0140