Can I rock-salt a patch of weeds? And will this threaten a nearby (7ft away) 50ft tall cypress?

Question

In place of this patch of 6-ft tall weeds (it's out between my back fence and the alley) I want just dirt. But will this cause any damage to the surrounding soil? Or can it be localized?

Answer 1

Salt is a chemical, although it occurs naturally, & won't dissappear.

A better solution, which is bio-degradeable, is to use newspaper.

Lay sheets of newspaper over the affected area, after cutting weeds.

Weight it down with small stones or sand, it will finally decompose.

This is cheaper than plastic barrier film or most mulches.

You can even leave the cut weeds in place to compost.

The temperature created under the newspaper will prevent germination.

Answer 2

Salt will not leach far through the soil. If you were to look at where there is salt damage in peoples lawns from plowed road snow, or use of it on sidewalks  from previous winters, you would see it stays very localized only going out a few inches from the sidewalk or exactly where the pile of plowed snow sat. If you are opposed to using a herbicide to accomplish your task, salt would probably do a pretty good job, but there are a few weeds which salt will not have any effect on. they are mostly the lower growing or ground hugging types though such as spurge, medic, purslane and even crabgrass.  For the same reason it does not spread out, it also does not sink deep enough into the soil to harm trees. If it did there would not be any trees surviving in boulevards. (The local term for grass between the side walk and the road). There are chemicals (Ortho Triox for one) if you want to go that route which will not leech as well These will kill any existing plant life and sterilize the soil so nothing grows there for a year or more.  If you want to use these be very careful and follow the directions to the T. Also rope off the area sprayed to make sure that no one walks through the sprayed area while still wet and onto your lawn. The end result will be a bunch of dead foot prints in your lawn.

Answer 3

you don't put salt on soil unless you intend for NOTHING to grow there.... and any plant that receives run-off from rain or watering that runs thru that salted soil will suffer from it.... find some other way to kill off that patch of weeds... like a tarp, newspaper, a sheet of plywood, or  a weed killer like boiling water poured right on each weed's root area!.... or... gasp!... a weedkiller like RoundUp!....at least it eventually goes away.... and if you don't SOAK the soil with it, the tree shouldn't notice.....