Help Save Your Home From Brush Fire
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Fire-Retardant Plants
Listed by Common Name
- Arizona Sycamore (Deciduous Tree)
- Autumn Sage (Evergreen Shrub)
- Blue Fescue (Ornamental Grass)
- Blue Oat Grass (Ornamental Grass)
- California Fuchsia (Perennial)
- Century Plant (Succulent)
- Deer Grass (Ornamental Grass)
- Dwarf Coyote Bush (Evergreen Shrub)
- European Olive (Evergreen Tree)
- Fortnight Lily (Evergreen Perennial)
- French Lavender (Evergreen Shrub)
- Hairy Yerba Santa (Shrub)
- Heavenly Bamboo (Evergreen Shrub)
- Ice Plant (Succulent)
- Iris (Rhizome)
- Jade Plant (Succulent)
- Japanese Mock Orange (Evergreen Shrub)
- Kangaroo Paw (Evergreen Perennial)
- Manzanita (Evergreen Shrub)
- Mexican Blue Palm (Palm)
- Mexican Palo Verde, Jerusalem Thorn (Small Tree)
- Mediterranean Saltbush
- Monkey Flower (Perennial)
- Poverty Weed (Perennial)
- Purple Sage (Evergreen Shrub)
- Rockrose (Evergreen Shrub)
- Society Garlic (Perennial)
- Spanish Lavender (Evergreen Shrub)
- Statice or Sea Lavender (Perennial)
- Sweet William (Perennial)
- Toyon, Christmas Berry (Evergreen Shrub or Small Tree)
- Valley Oak (Deciduous Tree)
- Verbena (Perennial)
- Wooly Blue Curls (Evergreen Shrub)
- Yucca, Our Lord's Candle (Evergreen Perennial)
Protect Your Home from Brush Fires
Create a Defensible Space
- Clear away dry grass, brush, and dead leaves within 30 feet from your home.
- Focus on low-growing, fire-retardant ornamental plants in your landscape design.
- Regularly prune all plants to remove dead wood, excess stems, and branches.
- Trees and large shrubs should be placed at least 10 feet apart from each other, and away from your home. Trees should never overhang your roof.
- For trees 18-feet tall or more, prune lower branches 6 feet off the ground to help prevent ground fires from spreading into treetops.
- Firewood and scrap woodpiles should be stacked at least 30 feet from any structures, especially your home. Clear away flammable vegetation located within 10 feet of woodpiles.
- Butane and propane tanks should be kept at least 30 feet from any structures. Clear away flammable vegetation located within 10 feet of butane or propane tanks.
- Water just enough to keep plants healthy. Too much promotes excess plant growth and creates more potential fire fuel, while too little lowers the moisture content and causes plants to burn more readily.
- Most importantly, the 30-foot defensible space must be maintained regularly in order to be effective.
- Note: In extremely hazardous areas, the California Public Resources Code, Section 4291, requires clearance of flammable vegetation for a minimum distance of 30 to 100 feet from structures.
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Fire Ecology
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Evergreen Shrub or Small Tree
What's the Buzz on Fire Retardant Plants?
Here's What Bloggers are Saying About Fire Retardant Plants
- BAN Dihydrogen Monoxide in the UK - The Petition Site
- may cause severe burns. contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape. accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals. may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes. has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients. ... as an industrial solvent and coolant. in nuclear power plants. in the production of styrofoam. as a fire retardant. in many forms of cruel animal research. in the distribution of pesticides. ...
- Landscaping – A Fire Resistant Home and Garden | Decorative Garden ...
- You should the following factors: wind, slope, the density of the neighborhood and architectural styles. InIn other words, a fire spread quickly or slowly? And if so, at home or not easily flammable. Remove dead plants ...
- Town Mouse and Country Mouse: Fire Resistant Landscaping - Talk on ...
- Community Television of Santa Cruz County recorded restoration landscape professional Suzanne Schettler's talk, "Fire Resistant Landscaping - The Basics." Suzanne gave this talk to the Santa Clara and Santa Cruz chapters of CNPS lately. ... Irrigating the plants close to the home helps. also looking around and thinking in terms of fuel for a fire, and getting rid of debris, dead wood, and so on - there are ways to cope in terms of lesser fires. ...
- Fungus gnats just as big a pest as iguanas « Gardening after five
- Got a non-lizard related question: did you write a blog about fire resistant plants? I'd like to know more about the types of plants that can be planted near a house. Discuss. Thanks! ... Ahhh?my wonderful sibling! I'm sorry you didn't get pelted by the rain of iguanas, but if that were going to happen, I really needed a ticket to be there to see it. Great idea on fire resistant landscaping ? let me research a bit, then I'll post it for you. ...
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Evergreen Perennial
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Thanks for Visiting
Did you learn something new about protecting your home?
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Reply
- MiaBellezza MiaBellezza Nov 12, 2009 @ 5:24 am
- Well this was an innovative lens idea. But for those living in fire-prone areas, what a great idea to feature these beautiful fire-retardant plants. 5* and thank you again for your blessing, Kim!
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Reply
- WindyWinters WindyWinters Nov 1, 2009 @ 12:53 am
- Great List of Plants and a Great Reference. The dry weather this summer was very scary. Good to know what plants may aid in saving your home. We have some irises along the back of our house. I guess it's a great idea to leave them there. These plants must store a lot of water in their leaves. Thanks for the info. :)
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Reply
- GonnaFly GonnaFly Oct 30, 2009 @ 2:27 pm
- What an excellent lens particularly for those of us in fire-prone areas.
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Reply
- jeffwend jeffwend Oct 28, 2009 @ 4:48 pm
- Beautiful lens. Living in Michigan we luckily don't have to worry about fires the way that people have to out West. It's nice to know that such plants are available and that they look so good too.
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Reply
- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie May 20, 2009 @ 8:45 am
- Kim -- a most interesting lens! With the fires we have had in Florida, as well as other states, this is certainly a consideration for our homes.
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Lensmaster KimGiancaterino has been a member since October 30 2006, has rated 8,646 lenses, favorited 4,233, and has created 295 lenses from scratch. Kim Giancaterino donates their royalties to Asante Africa Foundation. This member's top-ranked page is "Yearbook Yourself: See How You'd Look in 1950s-1990s Yearbooks". See all my lenses
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