Icy Sidewalks and Mulches

Icy weather can be challenging, but there are a few things you can do to prevent damage to your plants and to your home. Salt may injure plants near walkways if used to thaw ice. Coffee grounds may stain your carpets and crushed rock can get into your lawn area and could damage your lawn mower next summer. Sand or sawdust is the best solution. If you use sawdust that has manure in it, you will not need to worry about it robbing nitrogen from the soil in order to decompose. The manure supplies the nitrogen that the sawdust uses when decomposing.

When mulching, keep the mulch away from getting too close to trunks of trees. If mulches around trees or shrubs become a soggy mass, sometimes they can prevent needed air and water from getting through to the root system. Keep a little space so that they can breathe. Make sure your mulch is not packed down too tightly around plants.