Get in the firescaping zone
29 May, 2008 By: Landscape Management Staff LDB SolutionsBy Janet Aird
As wildfires burn across the Florida Everglades and California Santa Cruz mountains, we're reminded about the importance of landscaping with fire safety in mind. When you design and maintain a fire-safe landscape ‑ or firescape ‑ you interrupt the paths that wildfires would take and limit the amount of fuel available to them. You also give firefighters space to fight the fires.
Firescaping is designed in zones to provide fires with less and less fuel as they approach homes.
This diagram shows thinned trees in firescaping zones. (Courtesy of the National Fire Protection Association.)
Zone One is within 30 ft. of the home. Vegetation in this zone should be able to withstand firebrands and heat as high as 1,100 degrees F. Most of the vegetation should be small plants that will wilt with fire, not burn. Use plants that have big, glossy, fleshy, waxy leaves, such as succulents, calla lilies, privets and camellias, or a high salt content, like saltbush.
Don’t plant any vegetation under eaves, where flames and heat can collect, or near vents, where heat can radiate into the house.
 A typical Zone One firescape consists of mostly low-growing shrubs and wide paths. (Photo Courtesy of Doug Kent.) |
Keep flammable materials such as propane tanks and firewood out of this zone.
Zone Two is between 30 ft. and at least 50 ft. from the home. On slopes, add 10 ft. to this zone for every 10-degree change in slope. This ‘greenbelt’ should be relatively open, to stop a ground fire and allow accessibility in case of fire. Plant mostly drought-tolerant groundcovers and succulents, and some shrubs and trees in widely-spaced groups. Use wide paths and drip irrigation.
Zone Three lies between 50 and at least 100 ft. from the home. This zone slows fires and stops grasses and seeds from spreading into Zone Two.Use larger native trees and shrubs here. Keep them widely-spaced, thinned-out and interspersed with lower plantings. Don’t irrigate plants once they’re established.
Zone Four, which is more than 100 ft. from the home, meets wildlands. Use native vegetation that has been thinned to reduce the severity of fires. Do not irrigate.
For more information on Firescaping, see "Fight Fire with Landscaping," which will appear in the July issue of Livescapes.
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