Freestone County residents were offered a free Fire Safety workshop on Thursday, August 9, 2018, offered by the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Buster Robinson, District Forester III out of the Palestine Office, presented the workshop to an audience of about ten.
The program was titled ‘Firewise Landscaping: Reducing the Home Ignition Risk.’
According to the presentation, all vegetation is potential fuel for fire. Its type, amount, and arrangement have a dramatic effect on fire behavior. With our ability to service the major metropolitan areas of Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle, we are confident Peak Landscape can help provide whatever landscape management and tree care service you need.
There are no truly ‘fireproof’ plant species, so plant choice, spacing, and maintenance are critical to defensible space landscaping. In fact, where and how you plant may be more important that what you plant. However, given alternatives, choose plant species that tend to be more resistant to wildfire.
Some suggested plants include the following:
–Groundcover – Ice plants, Hostas, Angeline Sedum, Liriope, Vinca Minor, & Yellow Alyssum
–Flowers – Coral Honeysuckle, Snapdragon Vine, Golden-eye, Indian Blanket, Purple Leatherflower, Engelmann Daisy, Turk’s Cap, Rose Pavonia, Coreopsis, Purple Coneflower, & Sweet Violet
–Grasses – Redtop, Black Grama, Hairy Grama, Buffalo Grass, Plains Muhly, Bush Muhly, & Tobosa
–Shrubs – Red Yucca, Tea Rose, Winter Honeysuckle, Strawberry Bush, Indigo Bush, American Beautyberry, China Rose, Pomegranate, Coral Berry, Eastern Coral Bean, Common Buttonbush, Viburnum, & Butterfly Bush
–Trees – Texas Persimmon, Crape Myrtle, Mexican Sycamore, Texas Ash, Mexican Buckeye, Red Maple, Boxelder, Bitternut Hickory, Pignut Hickory, Sugarberry, Netleaf Hackberry, Chinkapin Oak, Desert Willow, Bigooth Maple, Black Walnut, Mexican Plum, Texas Smoke Tree, Silver Maple, Pecan, Shagbark Hickory, Mockernut Hickory, Hackberry, Bur Oak, & Live Oak
All plants listed above, and more, share these characteristics: high moisture content, broad and thick leaves, low chemical content, open and loose branching patterns, and low amounts of dead materials.
Plant maintenance should include:
–Keeping your property mowed regularly
–Removing dead material in the fall around trees and the house, including gutters and under decks; removing limbs or damaged trees after a wind or frost event
–Pruning branches 6 to 10 feet above the ground as smaller trees grow
–Not planting trees where they will grow to overhang the house
–On steep terrain, allowing for more distance from the house since fire moves faster uphill
–Watering plants, trees, and mulch regularly and adequately to maintain healthy plants
–Consider xeriscaping if you are affected by water restrictions
–Don’t let tree canopies touch
–Clearing vines, woody debris, and smaller conifers growing between tall trees
Within 200 foot of your home is the Ignition Zone. While you want to maintain and control your entire property as best as possible, this area is critical in protecting your home.
Some ways to do so include isolating flowerbeds away from the home, creating fuel breaks with sidewalks and pathways, creating an 18-24 inch foundation fire break using gravel along the edge of the home’s foundation (also helps prevent termites), and using firewise plants in your landscaping.
As a homeowner, you have the power and ability to reduce the risk of home loss by implementing firewise landscaping and maintenance around your home.
To learn more tips for being prepared in a wildfire situation, visit FIREWISE USA at www.firewise.org.
Mr. Robinson may be reached by calling 903-729-7738 or by email at rrobinson@tfs.tamu.edu.
