Last Updated on November 2, 2025 by Duncan

Salt causes damage to lawns by drying out their roots. In most cases, if your lawn has just slightly dried out, it may recover relatively quickly. However, if the salt damage to the grass is severe enough, your lawn may die in certain areas.

If your lawn has died out or experienced extensive damage, you must be wondering whether the grass will grow back after the salt damage. In some cases, with extensive rehabilitation procedures, the grass can grow back.

How does salt damage grass?

Salt harms grass at both the blade and root levels, which endangers the health of your lawn.

When salt dissolves in the soil, it causes imbalances that inhibit water absorption, resulting in dehydration and tension.

Due to the damage, the grass fails to absorb moisture, resulting in dark grass and fragile turf.

Salt accumulation in the soil can also result in root damage. High salt levels impair a lawn’s capacity to absorb key nutrients, limiting development and making recovery more difficult.

You are also bound to experience increased disease and pest susceptibility. Weak grass is more susceptible to fungal diseases, pests like grubs, and stress-related problems.

A lawn with too much salt may also struggle to endure dry conditions, even with regular watering.

Turf next to driveways, sidewalks, and roads is particularly susceptible to salt exposure. This is because when the snow melts, salty water flows into the soil, hurting the neighboring grass.

You should note that in coastal places, saltwater exposure can have similar effects to salt damage because ocean spray, flooding, or irrigation runoff can cause salt buildup in the soil, weakening grass and making it more vulnerable to damage.

How do you tell your lawn has salt damage?

There are several things that tell that your lawn has had salt damage. These things include:

Yellow or brown blotches on grass blades which occur when salt interferes with nutrient uptake.

Stunted or poor growth: Affected areas of the grass may grow slowly or fail to recover following the winter.

Soil crusting and poor drainage: Here, the excess salt forms a hard coating on the soil’s surface, preventing moisture and air from reaching the roots.

If you notice any of these symptoms, you should move with haste to treat the salt buildup and restore your lawn before the harm is irreversible.

How to fix salt damage to your lawn

There are a number of ways to fix salt damage to your lawn. These ways include:

Water the lawn to flush the salt out.

The first step toward repairing salt damage is to remove as much salt as possible from the soil. You can do this by watering your lawn deeply with pure water for the roots to access water and rehydrate the grass freely.

To distribute water uniformly without using high pressure, use a garden hose with a shower head-like nozzle.

To avoid watering the lawn blindly, consider undertaking a soil test. This will reveal your soil’s type and salt levels, which determine how much water you need.

According to Utah State University experts, a general rule for leaching salts is to apply 6 inches of water to reduce salinity levels by 50%, 12 inches to reduce salinity levels by 80%, and 24 inches to reduce salinity levels by 90%.

To avoid oversaturation and pooling, you should apply the water gradually over several days, in 2- or 3-inch increments.

If this is your first time watering your lawn to get rid of salts, you should visit your local Extension office. This way, if you’re still confused about how to proceed, they can propose the appropriate watering amounts.

Reseed your lawn

Sod is an excellent lawn repair, quick cure for tiny areas of lawn damage, but if you have a large area of damaged grass to repair or want to save money, seed is always a good choice.

For an easier time, apply salt-tolerant grass varieties. Some of the options that you have to go with include:

• Seashore Paspalum (Considered the most salt-tolerant warm-season grass).
• Bermudagrass
• St. Augustine grass.
• Buffalograss
• Zoysiagrass
• Tall fescue
• Slender creeping red fescue.
• Perennial ryegrass.

When you are reseeding your lawn, you need to follow a set of tips to get ideal results. These tips include:

• Loosen the soil slightly to prepare it for the seed.
• Scatter grass seed over the soil, scraping it slightly and tamping it down to ensure good contact.
• Limit foot traffic while your seed develops. That young new grass must be given time to establish itself and grow.
• Initially, add more water. New grass requires more frequent, smaller waterings. But do not drown your fresh grass. Be gentle with it.
• Use a starting fertilizer. This fertilizer is made explicitly for fresh grass, promoting growth and strength. It contains phosphate and nitrogen in lesser doses, which your young lawn’s fragile roots require immediate access to.

Apply gypsum

Gypsum contains calcium particles that displace sodium ions from surrounding the roots, allowing them to go below the root zone. They also loosen the soil, promoting aeration and water movement.

You should apply gypsum evenly to the damaged parts of your grass, following the package guidelines. If the product is powdered, you can use a broadcast, drop, or portable spreader, as well as a garden rake. For the best outcome, apply 20-40 pounds of gypsum per 100 square feet.

As much as gypsum begins working immediately, the full effect may take many months, depending on your soil type, sodium levels, and how much rain or irrigation you receive.

Remember that, while gypsum improves the soil, it is not a fertilizer and does not include nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium.

Keep ice melt out of the grass.

The best way to avoid salt-damaged grass is to get ice melt products off your lawn.

It’s tempting to go overboard with the ice melt, tossing extra on the sidewalks, thinking that more is better and will melt the ice faster. But you should know that more is not better.

Ice melt products work by reducing water’s freezing point, allowing it to melt at a lower temperature.

When a certain amount of ice melt is combined with water, it reaches a saturation point when adding more does not significantly accelerate the melting process.

The trick to getting the best results is to ensure that the ice is covered adequately with ice melt, allowing for maximum contact between the two.

To avoid rock salt grass damage, always apply your ice melt solution according to the recommended rate.

Also, don’t use ice melt if there is enough snow to shovel. You’ll wind up scooping the snow, putting it on the grass, and then spreading ice melt on your lawn.

If you employ a contractor to apply ice melt, ensure that they use it appropriately.

If a snow removal firm continues to use plain rock salt as a de-icer, that’s a huge red flag.

You should note that Rock salt is awful for the environment, including your grass and vegetation. It seeps into the surrounding waterways, producing a harsh environment.

It also degrades the surrounding landscaping, causing unattractive brown patches of dead salt-damaged grass.

To protect your lawn and avoid salt damage, choose a commercial snow removal business that employs other crucial de-icing ingredients, such as liquid magnesium chloride, processed rock salt, and brine, which are all substantially better for the environment.

Parting shot

Salt damage can be challenging to treat, but it can be reversed with proper lawn care and prompt intervention. So, yes, grass will grow back after salt damage.

Use the above tips to bring your salt-damaged lawn back to life.