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
A Few Facts Courtesy of Wikipedia
Firefighting Fundamentals
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The Heart Behind the Hero
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Wildland Firefighting Fundamentals
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Fire in Their Eyes: Wildfires and the People Who Fight Them
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Wall of Flame: The Heroic Battle to Save Southern California
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Firefighter's Handbook on Wildland Firefighting: Strategy, Tactics and Safety
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Firescaping Resources
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Introduction to California Chaparral (California Natural History Guides)
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Landscape Plants For Dry Regions: More Than 600 Species From Around The World
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Fire, Chaparral, And Survival In Southern California
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Firescaping: Creating Fire-resistant Landscapes, Gardens, And Properties In California's Diverse Environments
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Stories from the Front Lines
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Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire
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Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire
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Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter's Season at the Grand Canyon
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Smokechasing
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Fire and Ashes: On the Front Lines Battling Wildfires
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Rescue Me
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Rescue Me - The Complete First Season
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Rescue Me - The Complete Second Season
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Rescue Me Three Season Pack (The Complete Seasons 1-3)
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Sweet William Seeds on eBay
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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
- NMIT Media Release: After the devastation comes Regrowth and 'fire ...
- The NMIT display, including Quentin's and a number of other student garden designs, reflected the ability of many plants to re-grow and regenerate and also highlighted the use of fire retardant plants, both native and non-native, ... Also available at the display was advice and information on strategies to help minimize fire risk around the home through the evaluation of vegetation used in landscaping. ?If the plants are not easily ignited then they can improve the ...
- Fireproof homes | Sunshine Coast Gardening | Landscaping, Flowers ...
- While he is unaware of any plants which are totally fire-retardant, Bob suggested the use of evergreens in the garden, such as lilly pillies, philodendrums and gardenias. However, his biggest tip was to have a ?green zone? around the ...
- Knowledge Center for Silk Plants and Trees - iContact Community
- What kind of plants and trees will create a landscape theme? An endless array of silk plants and trees can be categorized into many popular tree varieties that can centralize an indoor theme. Palms trees are a universal choice for themeing ... Of coarse, there are several plant manufacturer to purchase silk trees from. In addition to price, there are several factors to consider when selecting your silk plants and trees. Fire retardant foliage may be the most important ...
- Knowledge Center for Silk Plants and Trees - iContact Community
- Silk plants and trees are an affordable promising solution to several design challenges for a commercial landscape - whether you are considering live or artificial plants for a shopping mall, casino, hotel, restaurant or other ... Of coarse , there are several plant manufacturer to purchase silk trees from. In addition to price, there are several factors to consider when selecting your silk plants and trees. Fire retardant foliage may be the most important element, ...
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Evergreen Perennial
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This Lens Supports the Squidoo Fire Aid Challenge
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The California Fires & How You Can Help
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Thanks for Visiting
Did you learn something new about protecting your home?
WindyWinters wrote...
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. :)
Posted November 01, 2009
GonnaFly wrote...
What an excellent lens particularly for those of us in fire-prone areas.
Posted October 30, 2009
jeffwend wrote...
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.
Posted October 28, 2009
JaguarJulie wrote...
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.
Posted May 20, 2009
Demaw wrote...
I once remember reading about some wildfires that consumed most of the homes in a neighborhood except the homes whose owners understood their terrain. The outside of their homes had brick, cement and maybe stucco with no wood trim or ornaments and landscaped with fire retardant plants that were not too close to the houses. The area if I recall was somewhere in California. These homes were spared from this particular fire. The homeowners themselves were surprised.
Posted March 03, 2009
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About the Author
Lensmaster KimGiancaterino, aka Kim Giancaterino, has been a member since October 30 2006, has rated 7,621 lenses, favorited 3,761, and has created 278 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Daylight Saving Time Ended November 1, 2009". See all my lenses
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