Landscaping to Help Avoid Wildland Fires in Reno

As Spring approaches, you may be getting ready to plant your garden.  Now is a great time to consider landscaping to help avoid wildland fires in Reno.  While juniper bushes are quick to grow, easy to care for and popular in residential landscaping, they are actually one of the four most at risk plants for a fire hazard due to the fact that they have a large volume of natural chemicals in them which makes them burn at high temps as well as high intensity. 

When planning your garden, consider the following plants in designing your floral scheme:

Anthony Waterer Spiraea
Crimson Pygmy Barberry
Katherine Dykes' Potentilla
Snowmound Spiraea
Yellowtwig Dogwood

These are great alternatives to the hazardous juniper plants.  They are also very easy to plant in place of existing juniper plants near or adjacent to Reno residential structures.  Juniper can still be used as an ornamental touch as long as you plant it at least 30 feet from a structure.

Because Reno residents get to enjoy beautiful natural scenery, we must be vigilant about taking care to avoid wildland fires wherever possible.  Utilizing fire resistive plants in your landscaping theme as well as keeping the plants healthy and well watered will help reduce the pathways wildland fires can take to get to Reno residential structures. 

Other ways to reduce a wildland fire threat include:

• Replace wood fences with rock or concrete walls.
• Plant shrubbery in groupings, not rows or hedges.  Rows and hedges provide an uninterrupted line of fuel for a fire.
• Stay away from the plants that spread rapidly and over a large area.  This also adds a huge "fuel line" for fires to travel along.
• Keep a 15 foot distance between the crowns of mature trees to decrease the likelihood of the fire "jumping" from tree to tree.
• Stone or brick patios are fire resistent while wood decks are not.  If you can't use stone or brick, make sure your wood deck or balcony uses a fire-resistent skirt to enclose it.
• Stone or concrete retaining walls not only reduce the sloping of the area below a house, but they also slow a fire down.

For more information on how to plan your landscaping to help avoid wildland fires in Reno, please visit the Living with Fire website or call the Reno Fire Department's Fire Prevention Division at 775-334-2300.  Together, we can keep Reno beautiful and safe for our families and loved ones.