Sierra Foothill Garden

When landscaping in a fire risk area, like the Central Sierra foothills of California, you normally have to keep a hundred foot fire safe barrier around your home.   There is quite a bit of research done concerning plants that ignite slower and burn slower.  

First, protect your property by grooming the branches and brush 10 feet up and ten feet around your trees.  Keep enough space between ‘islands’ of shrubs in the garden so as not to allow fire to spread from  one to another. Another important thing recommended by Las Pilitas Nursery, that you can do is water your landscape every week during the summer, just enough to keep moisture in. Also, thin out  flammable bushes with dead branches and remove the dried weeds.  Native leaf litter is OK, if not infested with weeds, and around the house it’s best to use concrete patios and gravel, instead of bark paths. Metal outdoor furniture, instead of wood would be wise.

Then you think about planting. these are some of my favorites native or Mediterranean trees and shrubs, groundcovers and perennials listed as low fire combustibility, as documented by sources below:

Trees
Western Redbud Cercis occidentalis
Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia
Groundcovers
Manzanita Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ‘Wood’s Compact’
Creeping Sage Salvia sonomensis ‘Bee’s Bliss’
California fuchsia Epilobium californica (syn. Zauschneria)
Stonecrop Sedum, any
Shrubs
Wild Lilac Ceanothus griseus var. horizontalis ‘Carmel creeper’
Manzanita ‘Howard McMinn’ Arctostaphylos
Coffeeberry Rhamnus californica
Perennials
Monkey-flower Mimulus aurantiacus
White Yarrow Achillea millefolium
Coral bells Heuchera maxima
Blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium bellum
Wildflowers
California Poppy Eschscholzia californica
Farewell to Spring Clarkia amoena

• Firescaping with Natives in the Monterey Bay
• Title: Use of the cone calorimeter to detect seasonal differences in selected combustion characteristics of ornamental vegetation
  Publication: International journal of wildland fire. Vol. 14 (2005): pages 321-328
  Author(s) Weise, David R.; White, Robert H.; Beall, Frank C.; Etlinger, Matt
  Year: 2005
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