landscaping against fire
Linda lives in inland San Diego, although nowhere near the extreme eastern frontiers of the county. Still, during the October 2007 wildfires, she was evacuated for several days when the flames came close to her home.
Recently a booklet showed up at her house. Entitled Will You be Prepared for the Next Wildfire?, it listed the steps you can follow to make your home more fire-resistant. Interestingly more than half of the pamphlet was dedicated to landscaping.
One of the main ideas the publication lays out is to develop “defensible space” around your house. The photo below shows the basic concept better than any words could [ source ].
The other landscaping tips deal with selecting the best plants to have near your house. Two pages of fire-resistant trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines and perennials round out the recommendations.
Being the plant expert that I am (yeah right…) I did notice a couple of little proofreading glitches with the pamphlet. There’s a photo of something labeled “coyote bush,” but the plant is something altogether different. Also, there’s a typo in the plant lists that calls something a “bush gerimander” instead of a “bush germander.” (It seems to be a typo somehow befitting a booklet produced by a political entity: a plant that’s the linguistic hybrid of a germander and a political district drawn by gerrymander!) But those are minor quibbles.
Check out all the good information at the San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Services. It might help you save your house next fire season.
November 13 2008 05:21 am | Categories: gardening • landscape design | Tags: defensible space • fire • fire-resistant landscaping
