Is road salt affecting my flower bed?

I just moved to Vermont this past winter and when the plow came it broke some of my flower bed by the road. It is very large and goes right along the road. Well when the plow comes it scoops up all the snow on the road and pushes it into my bed. There were some tulips just planted last fall and they came up but did not look so great. Now that the flowers are dead the green parts are yellow and sickly where as other tulips on my property that have flowered and gone do not look like this. I planted a lot of spring bulbs after the ground was was workable and nothing came up but a few straggly strands and they are Day Lilies which I thought grew easily. I did everything right care wise for them and put fresh composted manure with them. The same thing for some dahlias that I planted there. They seem to be coming up but not doing as well as other dahlias I have planted on the property. What can I plant there it looks horrible! Will wild flowers from seed do well?

Is road salt affecting my flower bed?
mmmmmmm,perhaps.





Allot of the municipalities are now using Mag-chloride and yes it can be happening.A call to your municipal office may shed some light.





There was a topic here in Colorado on this issue,about roadside vegetation wish I could find.There is high speculation it's true.





On a personal note: I am familiar with the people that was instrumental in mag-chlorine use in the I-70 corridor (Glennwood Springs,Colorado)
Reply:sounds like a bad case of rock salt. it causes everything to die. so much so, that the easter before last, we had an outdoor party and easter egg hunt, and we made homeade ice cream, we had to use rock salt and some of it got on the ground, i still have no grass in that spot. try moving your flower beds away from the road where they can't get anymore damage done to them from the road workers. good luck.
Reply:Yes, road salt does damage a lot of flowers, but the daylilies are tolerant of salt, as are a lot of plants. You just need to look up which ones! Flax, All ornamental grasses, and iris should do well.


Just be careful if You use wild flowers, you can end up with a big unwanted mess!
Reply:They use rock salt on roads. Murder to most green growing things. Your bed is probably contaminated by the salt and will continue to be so until it no longer snows in vermont...sorry. Could move the bed to better soil.