The objective of this study was to characterize salt affected soils based on their saltrncontent & to assess growth responses of selected species and identify salt tolerantrnspecies; namely, Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), Setaria sphacelata, Saltbush (Atriplexrnhalimus) and Guinea grass (Panicum maximum). Soil samples were collected from threerndifferent sites of southwestern shore of Lake Ziway area. Samples were taken inrnreplicate of 16 from each site and composited. Soil chemical analysis of the solublernsalts, exchangeable salts, EC, texture, calcium carbonate, pH, organic carbon and totalrnnitrogen were done at Addis Ababa University and National Soil Research Center. Inrnaddition, to select salt tolerant plant species experiment was conducted in a greenhouserninvolving the different soil types and the four different plant species as experimentalrntreatments. The experimental design used was CRD (Complete Random Design).rnThroughout the experimental period, survival percentage and height of each plantrnspecies were recorded.rnBased on the laboratory analysis, salt problem was observed in all the soil samplesrncollected from the study area. According to the standard guidelines, all tested soilrnsamples fall under the category of saline-sodic soils based on their salt content. Evenrnthough they all belong to same category, the absolute salt content of each soil type wasrnvery different. The EC, SAR, ESP value for soils collected from the first site was 9.3rndS/m, 58.7 & 34.3%, for soils from the second site, which was 19.3 dS/m, 385.9 &rn78.8%, and for soils from the third site was 8.1dS/m, 95.3 & 65.5% respectively. Theserndifferences in absolute salt content were reflected in the differential responses of thernplant species grown on them. There was statistically significant difference in the meanrnsurvival percentage between different species on soil types collected from the same sitern(P