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Mitigating soil salt contamination
 Raising the beds may help prevent de-icing salt from washing into the soil, and reduce contamination issues. |
Sodium affected (alkali) soils can be modified by adding gypsum or sulfur. This improves soil by displacing sodium from the soil particles. However, gypsum will provide little, if any benefit if the soil has a high calcium content. It is a poor amendment in clay soils because of its small particle size.
Gypsum will not help mitigate soils impacted by other salts. Follow recommendations on the label
for applications rates. Check with a soil specialist to be sure your soil is
really of alkali nature since this treatment does not work
and is a waste of
time in other soil types.
If drainage is adequate, salts can be leached from the soil with excess water. This is a specialized technique that is best done in conjunction with a soil scientist. Berming can occasionally be used to divert salty water from the root zone and prevent a problem from occurring.
