Is Your Garden Wildfire Ready?

September 9th, 2024

by Natasha Stott, Tahoe Resource Conservation District

Taken from the UC Master Gardeners - Tahoe Gardening Newsletter September 2024

Living in a fire prone area such as Lake Tahoe can be daunting. Luckily there are many resources available to help homeowners and communities who live and garden within the Tahoe Basin. This includes information to help guide landscaping and gardening techniques, so that your garden can still be your beautiful place of refuge and fire resistant at the same time! The Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) Program, facilitated by the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, works to educate and prepare neighborhoods for wildfire within the Tahoe Basin. Their work includes assisting neighborhoods in becoming fire adapted. The most important aspect of being wildfire prepared is creating and maintaining defensible space around your property. Gardening and landscaping techniques are a big part of this. A home with good defensible space reduces the chance that the structure will ignite when a wildfire comes. A common misconception is that defensible space means that garden spaces and the areas around a home need to be barren of plants. This is not the case; your beautiful gardens can be maintained to align with the key elements of good defensible space! Review our new Living With Fire Defensible Space Guide which outlines how to create defensible ‘zones’ around a property.

The ‘Zone 0’ space is the 0-5 feet of space closest to a structure. This is the most important zone and should be ember resistant. Plants should be low to the ground, properly watered, with low flammability.

In ‘Zone 1’, 5-30 feet from a structure, you should maintain plants and trees so that they are “lean, clean and green”. Actions to help this include:

• Pruning trees so that dry, overhanging branches do not encroach upon a home if they were ignited by embers,
• Recognizing the spacing of trees and plants to reduce ladder fuels when a fire is spreading.
• Properly watering plants to reduce the chance of being a fire hazard.
• Using a fire-resistant mulch as well as fire resistant species to improve how defensive your garden is against wildfire.

‘Zone 2’ is the defensible space zone 30-100 feet. Observe any dry or dead vegetation at 30 feet or more away from your home. Consider removing any excess vegetation or starting a conversation with your neighbors if this space spills over into the properties adjacent to yours. Check out our guide to see how your home and garden compare with the outlined zones. Lake Tahoe residents are also encouraged to use the ‘Landscaping’ publications on our website as they can provide more in-depth information on this subject including combustibility of mulches, "fire scaping" landscaping techniques, and plant selection guides. The Fire Adapted Communities Program is currently developing a new and improved up to date planting guide.

If you are interested in becoming a Fire Adapted Community, look under 'Get Involved' for more information. You can also contact fire@tahoercd.org directly to become involved!