The snowy and icy winters of the Midwest require the use (or ‘over use”?) of salt to clear roads, driveways and sidewalks, along which salt accumulates in the soil over time. Warm weather rains and watering systems slowly wash away these deposits, but sodium accumulates in the soil. Plants in these areas may experience a sodium-induced ‘drought’, where they are unable to take up water. Often the most salt tolerant plants are also those which tolerate drought. Below are some trees which are reputed to be salt tolerant. to varying degrees.
| ACER campestre+ freemannii+ ginnala+ platanoides+ saccarinum+ |
MAGNOLIA soulangiana+ |
| AESCULUS hippocastanum++ |
MALUS x. ‘Adams’+ x. ‘Donald Wyman’+ x. ‘Prairifire’+ calocarpa ‘Zumi’+ |
| AMELANCHIER canadensis/ grandiflora++ |
NYSSA+ |
| BETULA nigra+ |
OSTRYA+ |
| CATALPA++ | PICEA abies+ pungens++ |
| CELTIS+ | PINUS nigra++ |
| CRATAEGUS crusgali inermis++ |
PYRUS++ |
| FRAXINUS americana++ |
QUERCUS alba++ bicolor+ macrocarpa+ rubra++ robur++ |
| GINKGO+ | RHUS glabra / typhina++ |
| GLEDITSIA++ | SYRINGA++ |
| GYMNOCLADUS++ | TAXODIUM++ |
| HAMAMELIS vernalis / virginiana++ |
TILIA americana / cordata+ |
| JUNIPERUS++ |
+ tolerant
++ very tolerant
