Re: Man, did I do...

Yes one of those situations in which you find yourself smacking your self upside the head. Been there done that. I do hope the jasmine survives.
From what I came across, Coontie (if that is Zamia integrifolia) is salt tolerant but Gardenias are supposed to be salt sensitive. I didn't look up Jasmine because I wasn't sure if you were referring to a Jasminum or what. 

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message ----- From: "james singer" <islandjim1@verizon.net> 
To: "Garden Chat" <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 12:26 PM
Subject: [CHAT] Man, did I do...



a dumb thing....
Every month when the Social Security check coasts in, I buy two 40-pound bags of salt chunks for the water softener. It's a ritual
I have one of those Rubbermaid garden carts--not sure how to describe it, but I'm sure you've seen them. Shaped kind of like the bucket on a backhoe. Normally, I unload the bags of salt from the back of my truck into the cart, then wheel them around the house to the water softener.
Two months ago, I got the bags of salt as far as the cart just as it started to rain. So I dragged the cart up the driveway to the garage and parked it under the eaves. The storm was quite fierce and windy; even though the cart was more-or-less protected, it nearly filled with water.
And one of the bags of salt leaked. So the cart was soon filled with an ultra-saline solution. And, because the cart is not water-tight, the solution leaked out and ran down the driveway--which is concrete--and ran off at the base of a large orange jasmine tree.
Within a few days, it was obvious that the jasmine was in trouble. the front patio was covered by a blizzard of dead leaves, and leaving the tree little more than a bunch of upright sticks. So in something of a panic, I put a hose at the base of the jasmine and turned it on, thinking I might be able flush the salt out. The water from the hose bypasses the softener, so it wasn't coals to Newcastle. I let it run for 3 or 4 days.
Periodically since then, I've run the water at the base of the tree for a few hours at a time.
Today I noticed new leaves on the sticks. I don't know if this signals recovery or death throe. Interesting thing is that planted next to the jasmine are a gardenia and a coontie--and neither seem fazed by the heavy dose of salt. 


Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.0 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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