Learn how to protect your home from wildfires. Firescaping, or firewise landscaping, is the practice of growing and tending the plants around ones home to attempt to keep fires from easily catching in the area directly surrounding the house. Most fires are preceded by fire brands—ashes and debris that float ahead of the fire and set the next area alight. By keeping your property well tended, and by growing plants that are more firewise, you have a fighting chance at keeping the fire at bay.
Learn more about firewise plants and landscaping ideas below.
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Southern California Regional ReportsWith so many Southern California neighborhoods adjacent to the foothills, it’s important to address fire safety in our landscape. Many residents near the foothills are forced to act on clearance…
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Northern California Regional Reports“Fire season” is a reality for Northern California gardeners beginning in late summer through fall, with fire concerns mounting steadily each year. Wildfires threaten—and sometimes consume—wildlands, farmlands, and homes. Though…
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Mountain West Regional ReportsThose of us who live in the Mountain West know that our forests are filled with large stands of conifers such as Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menzisii, Zones 4–6), ponderosa pines…
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Mountain West Regional ReportsIn 2020, wildfires raged across the west, with Colorado having three of the largest wildfires on state record. Just west of where I live in Fort Collins, the largest of…
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Northwest Regional ReportsOne thing that we Northwest gardeners need to start thinking about more and more is how to protect our homes from wildfires. Most gardeners in the Northwest have always expected…
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Garden Photo of the DayToday’s photos come from Carol Cowee. Her images remind us to cherish the beauty of our gardens and inspire us to rebuild when disaster strikes. This was my garden of…
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How-ToWhether or not a plant will catch on fire, keep a fire going, and then propel a fire is determined by its physical characteristics. Less flammable plants, those considered fire…
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How-ToFine Gardening’s Christine Alexander spoke with Douglas Kent this past spring to learn about landscaping tactics that can help protect a home from wildfire and about ways to speed a…
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Cool Green GardensPerhaps you are thinking, “Wildfires only happen out west.” The last time I checked, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was on the Atlantic coast. The fire that broke out there on…