Gardens also need to be firewise

Fire warnings and the daily reminders of heat and drought leave some to ask what should we do to prepare our properties to be more resilient during a fire? Clean up. Debris and plant materials on or near your house can be a fire hazard. Take a walk around your property to assess your defensible space. Does the layout of your landscaping help protect your home from fire or is it a liability? Consider zones of defense while assessing your property: Zone Zero, the area within five feet of the house, is the most vulnerable during wildfire. Structures are threatened not only by the flaming front of the fire but also by flaming embers that are lofted ahead of the fire front, possibly from miles away. Embers can land on fuels such as vegetation or mulch next to the house, igniting new fires. Reduce the connectivity or proximity of bushes and trees to each other and your home. It's best to keep the area nearest to your house clear of fire fuel. Pamela Kan-Rice. "Landscaping with wildfire exposure in mind can protect homes." UCANR. Aug. 10, 2021. https://ucanr.edu/News/?routeName=news story postnum=50236 Zone One, the area 5-30 feet from your house. Keep this lean, clean and green, which means you have space between your plants and they are watered. Green vegetation is more resilient to embers and flame than drier fuel. Vegetation arrangement: The spacing between groundcover, shrubs and larger trees is crucial to reduce the spread of wildfires. The amount of space needed is determined by the type and size of vegetation as well as the slope of the land. For example, a property on a steep slope with larger vegetation requires greater spacing between trees and shrubs than a level property that has small, sparse vegetation. Zone 2, the area from 30-100 feet from the home. Trim grasses and clear paths. Fire can climb up trees like a ladder. Fire-resistant plants: All plants will burn, but some more readily than others. Landscaping configuration and maintenance is a larger factor to the fire resilience of your property than are the type of plants or trees in your yard. If you prune or trim a plant that is drought tolerant in a way that makes it woody beneath the leaves, it is more likely to burn. Sufficient moisture to the plant through a drip system helps the plant stay green and therefore, harder to burn. When planning your garden for fire resistance, it helps to pick plants that are easy to maintain, choose those with fewer branches and little to no dead leaf accumulation. Glenn Nadar, Gary Nakamura, Mike De Lasaux. "Home Landscaping for Fire." UCANR 8228. 2007. https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8228.pdf Appropriate care in planning and maintaining your landscaping is a smart start to making your yard firewise.