I recently had a concrete patio installed with a "salt finish". Salt
is applied to wet concrete and then washed off after the
concrete dries. Unfortunately the
contractor washed off the salt directly onto the root line of my
beautiful, large, ceadar oak. Now, 2+ months later (aprox) I've
lost leaves on 70% of the tree's leaves and remaining leaves are
1/2 green and 1/2 brown.
Especially effected was the side of the tree facing the patio.

I am encouraged as there does now appear to be new green leaves
appearing at the top.

Various opinions from nursery's, etc. tell me to do nothing and
the tree most likely will survive. I have made sure the tree got
ample water during this time.

Should I trim the tree to promote growth?
Add a "sick tree" treatment of some type? If so what/how/how much?
Or should I in fact "do nothing"?

Thanks,

Alan in Boerne Tx.

Epsom salt has been proven to buffer NaCl salt concentrations in soils.

Try mixing up some good compost tea or fish emulsion or kelp tea, plus several tblsp of Epsom salt per gallon of tea around the roots of the tree.

If you can, spray a misting of the tea on the leaves as a foliar spray.

I'd be much more inclined to believe that the contractor cut roots to make the patio. The miniscule amount of salt used to texture the surface pales in comparison to the volume of salt applied to roads in the north, and those landscapes survive the spring runoff just fine (most of them).

Magnesium balances, rather than buffers, the other salts. If you have the right proportions of sodium, magnesium, and calcium, you can grow stuff just about no matter what the levels actually are. It's all about balance with salts.

Thanks Dave!