The Footprint 2011 Summer Edition - Eyre Peninsula Natural ...

Protect your property against fire
Caring for our natural resources
A free booklet which gives advice
to Eyre Peninsula householders on
landscaping for fire protection is now
available.
It covers topics such as choosing plants
with low flammability, where to plant
them, maintaining your garden to protect
your home and creating and maintaining
a defendable space around your home.
It also covers bushfire behaviour, how
buildings burn and protecting your home
from ember attack.
The booklet was produced by EPNRM
Board and Rural Solutions SA.
Author Di De Laine of Rural Solutions SA
is a senior environmental consultant and
has been a volunteer with the CFS on EP
for more than 10 years.
She said it was important to remember that
there was no such thing as fire retardant
plant species and that all vegetation would
burn if the fire was intense enough.
“However, it makes sense to do everything
you can for fire protection and this includes
choosing plants that are less flammable
for use close to the home. Some attributes
you need to look for are low oil content
Author Di De Laine in a Port Lincoln garden
landscaped for fire protection.
but high moisture and/or salt content in leaves, sparse
foliage, little or no dead foliage retained on the plant,
smooth bark texture and low amounts of litter produced
during the bushfire season. If you still want trees, you
must prune the lower branches so that their lowest
foliage is at least two metres above the ground.”
“You also need to think about other elements of
landscaping such as mulch, fencing, lattices, edging
and any garden structures. For example, mulch made
of organic material such as bark, straw, shredded
leaves and manure ignites easily and creates embers,
so it is safer to use pebbles or gravel, which will help
retain moisture in the soil and prevent weeds growing
without producing embers.
“Creeping saltbush and pig face are good examples of
groundcovers with low flammability, because they have
high moisture and salt content in their leaves. Similarly,
the upright varieties of saltbush have low flammability
and other good choices for shrubs are Christmas bush,
emu bush and the correa species.
“There are very few native tree species that have low
flammability, and it is important that the canopies of
trees are spaced two to five metres apart.”
Ms De Laine said one of the most important steps
property owners could take to protect their homes and
other buildings was to maintain a defendable space
around them.
“A defendable space of relatively clear land should be a
minimum radius of 20 metres wide around houses and
five metres wide around other assets such as sheds,
but you will need a larger circle of safety on sloping
ground,” she said.
The booklet explains how to create and maintain a
defendable space, including maintenance of buildings
for fire protection.
It points out that well managed vegetation can play
a positive role in fire protection by trapping embers
and protecting buildings from ember attack, deflecting
debris over or around a building, providing a barrier
against heat and flames and by slowing wind speed
and the rate of fire spread.
Copies of Landscaping for Fire Protection are available
from the EPNRM office at 23 Napoleon St, Port Lincoln
or phone 8682 755 or from CFS headquarters in Port
Lincoln.
EPNRM footprint summer edition 2011 5