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Fire-Smart Landscaping Tips

Earth-Friendly Gardening | Site Analysis | Climate & Microclimate | Climate Change & Your Garden | Fire-Smart Landscaping | Soil | Compost & Other Soil Amendments | Mulch | Irrigation | Conserving Water & Energy | Minimizing Waste | Garden Myths Busted
Monthly Fire-smart Reminders

Feeling overwhelmed and need a place to start? Check out our monthly tips for actionable, affordable ways to reduce fuel on your property. Our fire-smart landscaping tips are a reminder to homeowners to plan and maintain their homes and landscapes with awareness of the threat of wildfires. Read on for this month's fire-smart tip!

Pruning
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January: Pruning and Thinning for Fire Safety

  Winter is a great time to prune plants for fire safety. All plants can burn, but removing or trimming branches now can reduce potential fuels and create space between plants and plant groupings to slow or interrupt the path of fire to your home during wildfire season.Before you begin,…
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Zone 0
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February: Assessing and Planning Zones 1 & 2

 In December, we discussed strategies for assessing and planning Zone 0, 0-5 feet from your home, where the best practice is to remove any combustible materials.For Zones 1 and 2, focus on plant size and spacing to reduce fire pathways to your home.Zone 1 – 5 to 30 feet from homeObjective: Reduce heat…
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fire-smart plantings
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April: Mulch with Wildfire in Mind

 Mulch is any material spread over soil to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and prevent erosion. For fire safety, inorganic mulches such as rock are a non-combustible option that can be used anywhere in your landscape. Organic mulch is composed of plant materials and is combustible, but also provides…
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may fSL tip
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May: Lean & Clean Exit Routes

 In case of a fire, know your best escape routes and keep yourself, your family, and firefighters safe by maintaining a clean and lean landscape around your property’s exit routes.Keep vegetation around your exit routes pruned for clearance and hydrated for optimal plant health.Remove combustible…
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Remove leaves
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June: Clean Zone 0

 Zone 0 is the area within 5 feet of your home and is a critical area to keep clean of any combustible materials in order to better protect your home from fire.Remove dead or dry leaves and pine needles from your yard, roof, and rain gutters.Clean-up areas where wind eddies deposit leaf and plant litter…
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irrigation tubing
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July: Water Wise Strategies

 Maintaining healthy plants through the summer is a fire-smart strategy.  Well-hydrated plants have been found to be more resistant to embers and ignitions.  Use these important fire-smart & water-wise landscaping strategies:Help your soil maintain moisture by using compost and appropriate…
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Gutter with leaves
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August: Maintaining a Fire-Smart Zone 0

 As we get deeper into fire season, now is a good time to assess your landscape for immediate fire risk and take action. When evaluating fire risk, think lean, clean, and green, and start at the house and work out. With these principles in mind, we’ll focus on Zone 0, the first 5 feet surrounding…
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Daisies w Deadheads
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September: Maintaining a Fire-Smart Zone 1

 After cleaning Zone 0 (0-5 feet from home) of any combustible materials (see August’s Fire-Smart tips), this month we’ll focus on applying the Fire-Smart Landscaping principles of “think lean, clean, and green”, and “start at the house and work out” to Zone 1 (5-30 feet from home). A Clean Zone…
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fires smart landscape
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October: Fire-Smart Plant Considerations

 There are no fire-resistant plants since all plants can burn. But there are aspects to consider when selecting plants to include in your fire-smart landscape. Plant spacing, size, and maintenance are important considerations.Consider:Plants that have a higher moisture content, lower resin or sap…
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December fire zones
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November: Plant Spacing in a Fire-Smart Landscape

 When considering plant spacing, you need to be mindful of how close the plants are to structures, the mature size of the plants, the steepness of slopes, and the vertical and horizontal spacing of plants. Horizontal spacing:It is ideal to remove all plants within 5 feet of structures.Plant density…
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