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seaswirl_gw

Hurricane Sandy salt polluted my soil.....

seaswirl
10 years ago

It has recently come to my attention that my soil is probably salt polluted from Hurricane Sandy. Everything in our gardens died. I didn't know I actually had to do anything to rehab the soil until recently. I just thought a few rain storms would wash the salt away. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm still rehab-ing our house....now the yard?

Comments (2)

  • agardenstateof_mind
    10 years ago

    For my job and my volunteer work, I've been trying to keep up on this subject. Unless you have a very heavy clay soil, the salt should wash through. Heavy metals and chemicals are another story. If there was standing water for 1-2 weeks, the weight of the water may have compacted the soil, in which case you will need to remedy that. Might your plants have been subjected to salt spray? (I understand it really was carried well inland.) You don't say whether you are talking about herbaceous plants or woody plants. No slgns of life at all?

    There should be some talks on this subject offered ... keep watch for them. I'll check my resources and if I see any I will post them.

  • agardenstateof_mind
    10 years ago

    There was a talk on this subject last night at the Wall Public Library, given by one of the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Monmouth County. If you have a problem, most likely some of your neighbors do; perhaps, as a group, you could approach your public library or some other local organization to sponsor such a presentation. Rutgers Master Gardeners are trained by Rutgers U. to be a part of the Cooperative Extension Service; they volunteer their time and there is no fee for having one come speak, although donations to the RMG program are gladly accepted. Let me know if you need contact information for your local RMG (there's a group in almost every county of NJ) or for the Monmouth County group.

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