?s re: Snow/sand/salt covered beds in winter

Hi all,
Let me apologize in advance if my train of thought is hard to follow! :-) I don't know where else to post this so I'm trying here.

We want to plant some lovely beds next to the road. Irises, daylilies, peonies, etc.
Does anyone have any thought on how different shrubs and plants handle being smothered in snow that is plowed off of the road? What about salt and sand getting left in the ground after the snow melts?

Any suggestions and ideas would be appreciated as I'd like to start preparing a spot for planting in the fall.
It would get a lot of runoff from rain and snowmelt so I plan on raising it a bit.

Thanks in advance.
Lora B.

.. LoraB ..

I've no answers .. except for stating that it would seem that such beds may could very well be sacrificed(?) each year. Given that we don't get even near the amount of snowfall (thus the amounts of salt & sand treatment/exposure) that you guys further north must contend with, mindja .. but the grasses and the ooodles of wildflowers that grow right along the highways, here .. sure do make a mitey fantastic recovery each Spring.

An excellent question you've posed. So, I will bow out and wait to see what the many far more experienced and knowlegeable folks have to say. Sure appreciate your prompting my curiousity also ..

- Magpye

Actually, I'd check with a local nursery on plants that seem to survive the salt onslaught. I've seen plants with descriptions that match what you are looking for, but I couldn't tell you what they are. I know I've had problems with salt and my grass and I'm darned tired of reseeding. The weeds grow beautifully.

Did a search .. check this out

http://www.cornhillnursery.com/tips/salttolerant.html

X

My hostas I put in on the terrace last year made it fine. I do have another sunnier area I am thinking daylilies will make it on.

I have some spirea (no idea what variety.....leaves are yellowish and the flowers are pinkish purple) that I hated for years and years and years. So, I decided to dig them up and re-landscape the front of the house with something other than a landscaper's favorite shrub. I figured that since they would die in the garbage dump, that I'd try to plant them out by the road. What did we have to loose? Most of them have made it through two winters now. They got watered the first year (actually 2 months) and have been on their own ever since. I'm always amazed that they are alive. In fact, I'm also amazed that I have baby spirea that had seeded themselves into my yard years ago......and I can't kill them......I've tried. Just today I was thinking that 'in my free time' I could just sit in the lawn and work my way through digging up each and every one of them. I wonder if that would work.