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California Native Plant Society

Santa Clara Valley Chapter

FireSafe Gardens - Creating your Defensible Space 8/22/19

property diagram showing three zones of defensible spaceThe GWN talk of August 22, 2019 was a call to action! Eugenia Rendler and Patty Ciesla of the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council gave us useful and sobering information about our responsibilities as homeowners. "Defensible Space" was described: "Home Ignition Zone--0-5' from house: use walkways, inorganic mulches, and a metal gate if fence is attached to the house; "Garden area"--5-30' "keep lean, green and clean", using fewer plants and have them well-spaced; and "Reduced Fuel Zone" 30-100'. With all spaces avoid accumulation of leaves, pine needles, dead branches.

Details can be found on the SCFSC website: www.SCCFireSafe.org.

More information on defensible space can be found at FireSafe Marin's Defensible Space page and the University of California Cooperative Extension's Fire in California - Defensible Space page.

A booklet Fire-Safe Demonstration Garden was given out with a map of the demo garden at the CA Dept of Forestry and Fire Protection, 15670 Monterey St, Morgan Hill. (Call to verify hours open.)

Handout from the program:

Leaf burn times of California native plants, (link to original document on the Las Pilitas site)

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