FIRE RESISTING Fire resisting garden plants for the urban fringe and rural areas GARDEN PLANTS

Why Plant Flammability is Important The Role of Replacement Planting It is also necessary to realise that establishing a fire retardant garden will for the urban fringe take time, money and lots of hard work. Many plants do not reach maturity During a bushfire, the type, amount and arrangement of vegetation is Fire retardant plants can absorb more of the heat of the approaching for up to 15 years and therefore will not provide effective fire protection for critically important for the survival of your house. The fuel for bushfires bushfire without burning than more flammable plants. They can trap sometime. In comparison, other plants have shorter life spans and may and rural areas is the main danger factor that people can control. Hazard reduction burning embers and sparks and reduce wind speeds near your house if continually need to be replaced. activities such as clearing and fuel reduction burning, aim to lower the correctly positioned and maintained. Fire resistant ground covers can be vegetation hazard to a safe level. Because some plants have a higher used to slow the travel of a fire through the litter layer and fire resistant Environmental Weeds resistance to burning than others, we can use low flammability plants shrubs can be used to separate the litter layer from the trees above. for added protection in addition to normal maintenance and hazard All gardeners should be aware that some plants are not wanted in the If the low flammability plants sound like ornamentals and vegetables and reduction activities. bush even if they are valued in the garden. Unfortunately there are many the highly flammable ones sound like dry bush and scrub: then you’ve ornamental plants which can really take off when they get into the bush. There are two basic factors to be got the idea. Obviously, on dry sites it Some do so well they choke out the natives, like blackberries, or become considered in determining a plant’s will be very difficult to grow wet forest a fire hazard, like gorse. flammability: the first is how readily plants so consider planting useful its parts burn and the second is how non-natives such as vegetables Many environmental weeds were brought to Tasmania as ornamental the form of the whole of the growing and fruit trees (most of which have or food plants and have found conditions to their liking. Most are not plant influences the burning of the very low flammabilities) or some of particularly affected by pests and diseases and so have a head start over whole plant. “Flammability” then is, the less flammable ornamentals as the local plants. Predicting whether a plant will become an environmental or should be, the outcome of these part of your fire proofing strategy. weed is not easy so it’s good practice to use native plants in gardens two factors.There are many lists of Planting these species close to the close to bushland. Known environmental weeds in Tasmania that have plants in books but unfortunately structure and planting the natives moderate or higher flammability should be doubly avoided and are most should be treated with further away also reduces the risk of shown on the plant flammability list. suspicion because they haven’t these exotics escaping into the bush. For further information consult your local DPIPWE or Council weed been tested in an acceptable way. building protection zone Tasmania Fire Service recommends management officers. A useful pamphlet is “Garden Plants are Going The trouble with a lot of the books that around every house in bushfire Bush… and Becoming Environmental Weeds” published by the Society is they don’t tell us which aspects of prone areas there should be a zone for Growing Australian Native Plants. flammability are included and how where vegetation and other fuels are they are combined. minimal (the Building Protection fuel modified zone Protecting Your Home Zone) and that this zone should be Testing the flammability of individual Replacement planting with low surrounded by a further zone where pieces of plant is usually done by flammability plants is not sufficient fuels are maintained at a low level (the Fuel Modified Zone). The widths taking a section of leaf and subjecting it to a flame and measuring protection on its own. People living of these zones vary with slope from 10 to 50 metres, and descriptions, how quickly it burns. If you are wondering about the flammability of a on the urban fringe and in rural widths and other information can be found in the Tasmania Fire Service few different plants, you can get a good idea using an LPG torch on areas need to be aware of the risk publication “Guidelines for Development in Bushfire Prone Areas of pruned branches. Plants will of course burn differently once they are of bushfire and prepare themselves Tasmania” (2005). When choosing fire retardant plants, other attributes dead and dry and so it is usual to test both green and dead samples. and their homes for when the fire should be taken into consideration such as their aesthetic appeal, Plants with broad fleshy leaves are better than those with fine hard comes. The Tasmania Fire Service growth rate, resistance to drought and frost, and possibly their ability to leaves (sclerophyll). Those with significant amounts of volatile oils, DVD and booklet “Bushfire - Prepare to Survive” provides good advice regenerate following fire. like the eucalypt family which includes eucalypts and tea-trees, should for householders on the urban fringe and rural areas who want to prepare be avoided. If fire retardant plants are to be grown, a firm commitment must be themselves and their homes for bushfires. The DVD, booklet and other fire made to regularly maintain them or they may become a fire hazard. This safety advice is available from any Tasmania Fire Service office. The influence of plant shape is a lot more subjective: low growing plants includes sufficient watering, so a high leaf moisture content is maintained, and ground covers are better than shrubs; plants with dense foliage are the removal of dead material and regular pruning of lower branches. better than those with open airy crowns; plants which don’t retain dead Water availability is likely to be a problem in the drier months when the material are better than those which hold up lots of fuel; plants with For further information threat of fire is greatest. When choosing fire retardant species their water smooth bark are better than those with ribbon and rough bark. requirements need to be considered. There is no point growing plants as Freecall 1800 000 699 a protective measure against fire if they are going to die when they are www.fire.tas.gov.au most needed. Indeed, all dead plant material will be a fire hazard.

101435 v5 10/10 PREPARE • ACT • SURVIVE fire resisting garden plants for the urban fringe and rural areas

Introduction Dodonaea viscosa TN Native Hop Moderate Flammability Magnolia grandiflora E Magnolia All vegetation will burn in a bushfire and pose a hazard to people and Elaeocarpus reticulatus TN Blueberry Ash These plants should be avoided in Morus sp. E Mulberry their homes. However, not all vegetation has the same flammability and Eucalyptus amygdalina TN Black Peppermint the Building Protection Zone. They Myoporum insulare AN Boobyalla there is great potential for people living in bushfire prone areas to reduce Eucalyptus globulus TN Blue Gum should not be allowed to dominate your Nerium oleander E Oleander their fire hazard by changing the plants in their gardens. Eucalyptus obliqua TN Brown Stringybark garden and should be well maintained, Olearia argophylla TN Musk Eucalyptus paniculata AN Grey Ironbark being especially careful to remove Photinia glabra var. rubens E Chinese Fire Bush or Red-leafed Photinia Flammability Groups Eucalyptus pulchella TN White Peppermint dead material before it accumulates. Acacia melanoxylon - Blackwood Pittosporum bicolor TN Cheesewood In the following list E denotes an exotic plant, Eucalyptus viminalis TN White Gum Pteridium esculentum TN Bracken Fern TN a plant native to Tasmania, AN a plant Exocarpos cupressiformis TN Native Cherry Acacia baileyana AN X Cootamundra Wattle Rhododendron sp. E Rhododendron native to mainland Australia and X a known Flindersia australis AN Crow’s Ash Acacia decurrens AN Green Wattle Rosa sp. E X Roses, Briars environmental weed. Gahnia grandis TN Cutting Grass Acacia mearnsii TN Black Wattle Salix babylonica E Weeping Willow Gleditsia tricanthos E Honey Locust Acacia melanoxylon TN Blackwood Acacia podalyrifolia AN Mt Morgan Wattle Salix chilensis E Pencil Willow High Flammability Grevillea x Poorinda AN Poorinda Cultivars of Grevilleas Actinidia chinensis E Kiwi Fruit Sorbus aucuparia E Rowan These plants have been shown to be highly Grevillea robusta AN Silky Oak Araucaria heterophylla AN Norfolk Island Pine Spathodea campanulata E African Tulip Tree flammable and should not be planted or Grevillea rosmarinifolia AN Rosemary Grevillea Atherosperma moschatum TN Sassafras Syringa vulgaris E Lilac allowed to remain inside your house’s Building Ilex aquifolium E X Holly Bedfordia salincina TN Blanket Bush Weigela florida E Fairy Trumpets Protection Zone. They should also be avoided Lepidosperma laterale AN Sword Rush Beyeria viscosa TN Pinkwood Zieria arborescens TN Stinkwood in the Fuel Modified Zone. Move these plants Corymbia maculata - Leptospermum lanigerum TN Woolley Teatree Brachychiton acerifolius AN Illawarra Flame Tree away from your house and replace them with Spotted Gum Leptospermum scoparium TN Manuka, Teatree Brachychiton discolor AN Lacebark Low Flammability less flammable plants. Lomandra longifolia TN Saggs Brachychiton rupestris AN Bottle Tree These plants are acceptable Melaleuca alternifolia AN Paperbark Calodendrum capense E Cape Chestnut in the Building Protection Acacia dealbata TN Silver Wattle Monstera deliciosa E Monstera Canna indica E Canna Lily Zone and will be valuable Acacia stricta TN Hop Wattle Nandina domestica E Sacred Bamboo Cassia floribunda E Smooth Cassia replacements for more Acacia verticillata TN Prickly Moses Nicotiana glauca AN Tobacco Bush Ceanothus papillosus E Pacific Blue flammable plants. Hymenosporum flavum - Acer palmatum E Japanese Maple Pinus elliottii E Slash or Elliott’s Pine Chaenomeles japonica E Flowering Quince Native Frangipanni Acmena smithii AN Lilly Pilly Pinus patula E Mexican or Weeping Pine Chrysanthemum indicum E Chrysanthemum Artemisia sp. E Wormwood or Angels Hair Aesculus hippocastanum E Common Horse Chestnut Pittosporum undulatum AN X Sweet Pittosporum Citrus nobilis E Mandarin Camellia sp. E Camellias Allocasuarina cunninghamiana AN River Sheoak Platanus x acerifolia E Plane Tree Coleonema pulchrum E Diosma Capsicum annum var. E Chilli Angophora floribunda E Rough-barked Apple Poa sp. AN Poa Grass Cotoneaster glaucophyllus E X Cotoneaster fasciculatum Bambusa vulgaris E Bamboo Populus sp. E Poplar Cucurbita maxima E Pumpkin Diplarrena moraea TN White Flag Iris Cymbopogon citratus E Lemon Grass Banksia integrifolia AN Coast Banksia Quercus robur E English oak Gazania hybrida E Treasure Flower Cyphomandra betacea E Tamarillo Banksia marginata TN Honeysuckle Spiraea catoniensis E May Hebe speciosa E Veronica Delonix regia E Poinciana Betula pendula E Silver Birch Tasmannia lanceolata TN Native Pepper Hemerocallis aurantiaca E Day Lilly Dicksonia antarctica TN Man Fern Buddleia davidii E Butterfly Bush Ulex europaeus E X Gorse Hydrangea macrophylla E Hydrangea Diospryros sp. E Persimmon Callistemon citrinus AN Common Red Bottlebrush Viburnum opulus E Guelder Rose Hymenocallis littoralis E Spider Lily or Spider Flower Eriobotrya japonica E Loquat Callitris rhomboidea TN Oyster Bay Pine Hymenosporum flavum AN Native Frangipanni Escallonia macrantha E Escallonia Cassia javanica E Pink Cassia Lampranthus aurantiacus E Pigface or Iceplant Text by Mark Chladil and Jennifer Sheridan. Euryops pectinatus E Yellow Daisy Bush Chamaecyparis lawsoniana E Lawson Cypress Lavendula angustifolia E English Lavender Genista monspessulana E X Montpellier Broom Cinnamomum camphora E Camphor Laurel Photographs of selected plants by Alan Macfadyen, Passiflora herbertiana AN Native Passionfruit Koelreuteria paniculata E Golden Rain Tree Pelargonium peltatum E Geranium Citrus limon E Lemon Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Thanks to Natalie Papworth, Lantana camara E Lantana Pomaderris apetala TN Dogwood Cortaderia argentea E X Pampas Grass Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Ligustrum lucidum E Large-leaved Privet Prunus sp. E Plum Corymbia maculata AN Spotted Gum Original research and publication supported by the Liquidambar styraciflua E Liquidamabar Solanum melongera E Eggplant Cupressus funebris E Mourning Cypress Tasmanian Fire Research Fund. Revision 3, 2006.