- Author: Terri Sonleitner Law
Master Gardeners Offer Workshop on Fire Safe Landscaping
by Terri Sonleitner Law
UC Master Gardener
Q. What can I do in my landscape to make my home less vulnerable to
wildfires? John B., Paso Robles
A. That’s a timely question. Wildfires can be threatening, but with proper
planning you can have a beautiful landscape and create a Fire Safe Zone
around your home.
Begin by creating and maintaining a defensible space of 100 feet around
your home that includes a lean, clean and green zone of 30
feet, plus a reduced fuel zone of 70 feet. Greater defensive zones are
necessary if your home is on a steep slope or in a windswept area. Here’s
a closer look:
Green zone: Remove flammable vegetation and combustible materials
within 30 feet immediately surrounding your home. This includes keeping
trees trimmed, removing needles and leaves from roof and gutters, and
removing dead or dying plants, leaves and debris. Increase spacing
between plants, and use fire resistant plants. Regular maintenance like
pruning, weed control and adequate irrigation is necessary to maintain the
fire resistance of your landscape.
Reduced fuel zone: Create this next to the green zone, extending out
an additional 70 feet, or to your property line. Open space between plants
improves chances of stopping a wildfire. Either create greater horizontal
and vertical spacing between plants, or if you have trees, remove plants
growing beneath the trees that are greater than 4 inches in height. Remove
lower limbs of trees to at least 6 feet, and remove one-third of branches on
any smaller trees.
The Master Gardeners, with assistance from the Fire Safe Council, San
Luis Obispo County, installed a new Fire Safe Landscape display in our
demonstration garden. Our free July workshop will focus on Fire Safe
Landscaping this Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon in the Garden of the
Seven Sisters, 2156 Sierra Way in San Luis Obispo. Parking is free in the
adjacent parking lot. Additional information on Fire Safe Landscaping is available from the Fire
Safe Council: http://www.fscslo.org/Solutions.html# and from University of
California
publications:http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/docs/CeMasterGardener8322.pdf
Have a Gardening Question?
Contact the University of California Cooperative Extension Master
Gardeners: at 781-5939 from 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday and Thursday; at 473-
7190 from 10 to 12 p.m. on Wednesday in Arroyo Grande; and at 434-4105
from 9 to 12 p.m. on Wednesday in Templeton. Visit the UCCE Master
Gardeners Web site athttp://ucanr.org/sites/mgslo/ or e-mail
mgsanluisobispo@ucdavis.edu