GREEN VALLEY LAKE, CA
DISASTER
RECOVERY FOUNDATION
A 100% VOLUNTEER NON-PROFIT 501c3
COMMUNITY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
EIN 26-1343844
Fire – Resistant Landscaping
By Carol Hunter
With the 2007 fire season behind us and the 2008 season around the bend, many of us are either planning to clear our properties of too much brush and dead wood or are already busy doing this clearing work.
Before clearing away plants that have a foothold on your property, determine whether or not these plants are actually perfect for erosion control and/or are low fuel load plants.
Although we are all sensitive about removing any brush that may be a fuel load for any future fires, some of our plants actually are better left in place because they are not the problem that we think they are.
For example, some of our properties have a low growing Ribes (gooseberry) which does not carry a flame and provides excellent erosion control. There are also many Salix (willows) which can offer bank stabilization as well. There may be other such plants on your property that, while overgrown and need to be pruned, should be left in place.
Post fire rehabilitation on each of our properties is beginning. Here is a list of recommendations from the Sunset Western Garden book:
1. Maintain at least a 30 foot zone around your home of no more than low growing
plants. Thin crowns of trees and remove branches up to 10-20 feet from the ground.
Cut back branches of large specimen trees near your house to 15-20 feet from the
house (if possible).
2. Reduce fuel load by pruning trees and shrubs. Cut back grasses, brush and ground-
covers, especially once they have dried at the season end. Clear leaf litter from the ground, rooftops, and gutters.
3. Choose low-fuel-volume plants/perennials vs highly flammable woody shrubs.
Consult the websites provided below for plant recommendations that are low fire fuel, erosion control, low water needs and California natives.
Http://www.firewise.org (Firewise communities)
http://www.theodorepayne.org/plants/fire_resistant.htm
http://www.bewaterwise.com/fire.html
http://www.laspilitas.com/classes/fire_burn_times.html
http://www.nifc.gov (National Interagency Fire Center)
