If you're like me, it seems tracking snow and salt into the home or office is becoming all too commonplace. When winter snow and ice become compacted and slick, many people use deicers to loosen the buildup and ease removal.

However, the corrosive salt in many deicers can harm or burn plants and cause damage. Understanding the different types of deicers and knowing how to minimize salt damage to plants will help keep yards healthy when spring finally arrives.

Deicers should not be used to completely melt snow or ice, but to make it easier to clear away. They work by melting down through ice or snow to the hard surface, where they spread out underneath.

For the quickest and most effective ice penetration, purchase deicers in uniformly-shaped spherical pellets of about 1/16 to 3/16 of an inch.

Irregularly-shaped particles tend to melt randomly in all directions, and flakes melt as much horizontally as they do vertically.

Before using a deicer, be aware of the manner in which it affects plants, animals, concrete and other surfaces. Excess salts and fertilization from deicers prevent plants from getting nutrients and from absorbing sufficient water.

Symptoms of salt injury are desiccation, stunting and dieback. Leaf tips and margins appear burned and roots may be injured. The most common damage to concrete is scaling, in which small flakes of mortar and concrete come loose from the surface.

Accumulation of salt in the soil over several years may cause progressive decline and eventual death of plants, so flush the soil with large amounts of water after the last freeze in areas where deicers were used. This is the best way to remove salt from the soil.

Protect plants from injury by direct exposure to salt spray by covering them with burlap cloth. You can construct a small, pyramid-shaped wooden frame around your plant and cover the frame with the burlap. This will decrease the amount of exposure to slush and salt sprays during snow removal. Always read and follow any label directions when using deicers or other similar products.

Commonly used deicers include:

* Sodium chloride, also known as rock salt and table salt, which has been used as a deicer for many years and is commonly used on roads. It is relatively inexpensive, but can burn plants and corrode metal and concrete.

* Calcium chloride, which gives off heat in an exothermic reaction, often helping it perform better than many other deicing salts, especially at lower temperatures. It is less damaging to plants than sodium chloride.

* Magnesium chloride is another alternative that can melt ice, and it's much less damaging to plants than sodium chloride.

* Potassium chloride, which is a naturally-occurring material also used as a fertilizer and food salt substitute. Its high salt index can burn foliage and inhibit rooting.

* Urea, a synthesis of ammonia and carbon dioxide, which is used mainly as a fertilizer. It has a lower burn potential than potassium chloride and is a source of nitrogen fertilizer. Adjacent turf may green and grow excessively in spring. If urea stays on top of the soil, it quickly breaks down to ammonia and escapes into the air.

* Calcium magnesium acetate is a salt-free melting agent used as an alternative to salts in environmentally-sensitive areas. It has little impact on plants, animals, metal and concrete. When absorbed into the soil, it is beneficial to soil structure.

Other materials that can be used are kitty litter, sand and sawdust.

While not considered deicers, these materials will provide better traction and can dislodge ice and snow by abrasion. They can also be mixed in a 50-50 ratio with deicers to minimize salt injury to plants.

Finally, another solution to avoiding winter salt damage is to sow salt-tolerant plants and avoid plants that are sensitive to salt. Varieties such as hydrangea and Rugosa rose are examples of plants with a high salt tolerance, while Euonymus, dogwood and spirea are not at all salt-tolerant

Check with your local nursery or county Extension office for other salt-tolerant varieties and to see how salt sensitive your existing plants are.