How to Use Epsom Salt in Your Garden

Epsom salts carry a lot of benefits for a variety of situations. Whether you simply need to take a restoring bath for aches and pains or you want to liven up your vegetable garden, knowing how to use these salts will give you an edge on healthy living.   Don’t currently own a tub of Epsom salt? The best place to purchase it is from this page on Amazon.

And best of all? You can gain all of these benefits naturally and toxin-free.

What are Epsom salts?

Epsom salt gets its name from the saline English spring from which it comes. It is not really a salt as we understand table salt, but is a naturally occurring mineral compound made up magnesium and sulfate.

How does Epsom salt help the health of your plants?

Magnesium and sulfate are both critical in successful growing. Magnesium is important for all living things from humans to plant life, and a low amount in the soil can mean weak, poor fruit and flowers as well as a low nutritional value. Sulfate is vital for the nutritional absorption and also flushes toxins from organisms. A helpful tip in almost any garden is to enrich your plants with magnesium and sulfate by using Epsom salts.

A solution made of dissolved Epsom salt and water can invigorate your plants by providing them with an extra dose of these critical nutrients. Simply dissolve and pour into the base of the plant, letting the mixture soak into the soil. You can also use a bit of this solution to ready the soil before planting. You can use this mixture to invigorate a variety of plant life from your vegetable garden to your landscape. By diluting and dissolving in water, you make the minerals in these salts more accessible to your plants. Common effects of this natural “fertilizer” are stronger blooms and better flowering.

What specific plants do Epsom salts improve?

This practice can be especially useful when planting tomatoes which need a lot of magnesium. When tomatoes lack this in their soil, the fruits will end up not as sweet and not as healthy.

Peppers

also need magnesium to grow large and to produce greater quantities.

A boost of magnesium in the soil can also help your fruit trees produce stronger and more delicious results. Adding just a little bit around the roots can even make the fruit itself more nutritious. Apply about 3 times a year to see and taste improvement.

Roses

Also benefit from an extra dose of minerals that Epsom salts provide. Veteran rose growers champion the benefits of Epsom salts which make roses more vibrant, colorful, and stronger. Magnesium is an important player here, but so are the sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus levels that Epsom salts will increase.

Azaleas and Rhododendrons

can reap the benefits of Epsom salts by soaking up the extra sulfate. When these flowers lack proper sulfate levels, they turn a bit yellow. Avoid this and give some vibrancy to your blooms with a regular dose of Epsom salt every 2 to 4 weeks. ( 1-2 tablespoons per gallon of water, every 2 weeks or as needed)

Epsom salts also yield great results when planting your lawn and grass. The extra nutritional boost help seeds to develop and the grass will end up greener, fuller, and healthier with this extra supplement. This healthy grass will also be more resistant to harmful factors in their environment.

Palm trees

also can gain from Epsom salts. If you’ve seen a sad looking palm tree, you know that the top leaves can often become “dry” looking and frizzly. A mixture of Epsom salt and water can reinvigorate these leaves and keep the frizz away, leaving your palm tree looking sleek and healthy.

It may come as a surprise, but your leaves will also look better with an Epsom salt treatment. Magnesium gives a little extra strength in this circumstance, which means leaves will be strong, thick, healthy, and not curly! As with the flowers of azaleas and rhododendrons, leaves will also get a yellow color when experiencing a deficiency in sulfur. Epsom salts will also cure this.

What other ways can I use Epsom salts to improve my garden?

Tree stump removal

Tree stump removal can be made easier with Epsom salt. This compound absorbs water out of the wood of a tree stump. Drill a few holes in the stump and fill with epsom salt. This will dry out the wood and make it easier to remove. (Read more here on removing tree stumps from your garden :4 Ways To Remove Tree Stumps )

Slimy slugs

Slugs hate Epsom salt. Just sprinkle a bit wherever your problem is, and you can be sure you’ve eradicated this infestation with a non-toxic, all-natural solution.

Weeds

If you’re tired of getting on your hands and knees to pull out all the weeds in your yard, epsom salt could be your new best friend. Mix two cups of epsom salt with a gallon of vinegar. Then add a dash of liquid dish soap and put into a spray bottle. Next, instead of picking and pulling your weeds, spray them with this solution. You will want to avoid flowers and other plants, but overall, this solution will not damage anything other than the weeds.

Splinters

If you have a tricky splinter in your skin after a long day in the garden, you are not alone. This is a common and annoying occurrence and often means that you’ll be fishing it out with tweezers for half the night. Epsom salts, however, can also aid in this problem. Simply soak the area of the splinter in a few teaspoons of epsom salt and a cup of water. After awhile and without any digging or tweezing, your splinter will come out on its own.

Epsom salts are the all-natural solution to so many problems. This nontoxic compound will help you to eradicate any use of chemical fertilizers or dangerous weed-killers. You’ll be able to enjoy more nutritious and delicious spoils from the garden as well as watch as your garden truly comes to life in the most vibrant, colorful, and rich way. It’s all about the nutrients when it comes to gardening, so keep your Epsom salts ready when planting and doing upkeep on your beloved flora.