Firescaping is landscape design that reduces a home’s vulnerability to wildfire. The goal is to develop a landscape that offers the best fire protection and enhances the beauty of the property.

The ideal is to surround the house with things that are less likely to burn, creating a defensible space around a home.

Planning this type of landscape is best done when a home is built, but appropriate manipulation of existing landscapes can make a significant contribution towards wildfire survival.

• Choose “fire smart” species.
• Choose safe places to plant.
• Keep plants and trees well pruned, thinned, and maintained.

CREATING FUEL BREAKS

In Firescaping, the open spaces are more important than the plants.

Landscaping features used to reduce the amount of flammable fuels near a home and create a fire break include:

• Open lawns
• Driveways, walkways, parking areas
• Patios with masonry or rock planters
• Fences constructed of nonflammable materials such as rock, stone, or cement
• Water features, pools, ponds, or streams
• Areas with rock mulches. Be creative with boulders, riprap, dry stream beds.

“FIRE SMART” PLANTS

There are no fire proof plants, but some are more fire resistant than others.

These “fire smart” plants:

• Are less likely to ignite from a wildfire.
• Burn less intensely when they do ignite, and spread the fire slower.
• Are lower growing or smaller.
• Have stems and leaves that are not resinous, oily, or waxy.
• Have a high moisture content.
• Easy to maintain and prune.
• Have less accumulated debris and fewer dead branches.
• Have an open, loose branching habit.
• Are drought resistant, requiring less irrigation.

PLACEMENTAND MAINTENANCE

“The location of plants in your yard should always be carefully planned.”

• The arrangement, spacing and density of plants, shrubs and trees that grow around th e house can be more crucial than what species are planted.
• When planning tree placement, remember their size at maturity.
• Keep tree limbs 15 feet from chimneys, power lines and structures.
• A single bush or tree can be dangerous if it catches fire from flying embers, especially if it’s within 10 feet of a window.

Proper maintenance is vital to remove excess debris. Lack of maintenance can make plants more flammable.

LESS IS BETTER... When designing a landscape for fire safety, remember that less is better. You can do this by simplifying visual lines and reducing the number of plant groupings. A fire smart landscape lets plants and garden elements reveal their innate beauty by leaving space between plants and groups of plants. In firescaping, the open spaces are more important than the plants.