fire retardant fire retardant garden plants for the urban fringe and rural areas garden plants for the urban fringe Why Plant Flammability is Important burning embers and sparks and reduce wind speeds near your house if It is also necessary to realise that establishing a fire retardant garden correctly positioned and maintained. Fire resistant ground covers can be will take time, money and lots of hard work. Many plants do not reach and rural areas During a bushfire, the type, amount and arrangement of vegetation is used to slow the travel of a fire through the litter layer and fire resistant maturity for up to 15 years and therefore will not provide effective fire critically important for the survival of your house. The fuel for bushfires shrubs can be used to separate the litter layer from the trees above. protection for sometime. In comparison, other plants have shorter life is the main danger factor that people can control. Hazard reduction spans and may continually need to be replaced. activities such as clearing and fuel reduction burning, aim to lower the If the low flammability plants sound like ornamentals and vegetables and vegetation hazard to a safe level. Because some plants have a higher the highly flammable ones sound like dry bush and scrub: then you’ve Environmental Weeds resistance to burning than others, we can use low flammability plants got the idea. Obviously, on dry sites it will be very difficult to grow wet for added protection in addition to normal maintenance and hazard forest plants so consider planting useful non-natives such as vegetables All gardeners should be aware that some plants are not wanted in the reduction activities. and fruit trees (most of which have very low flammabilities) or some of bush even if they are valued in the garden. Unfortunately there are many the less flammable ornamentals as part of your fire proofing strategy. ornamental plants which can really take off when they get into the bush. There are two basic factors to be considered Planting these species close Some do so well they choke out the natives, like blackberries, or become in determining a plant’s flammability: the to the structure and planting a fire hazard, like gorse. first is how readily its parts burn and the the natives further away also second is how the form of the whole of the Many environmental weeds were brought to Tasmania as ornamental reduces the risk of these growing plant influences the burning of or food plants and have found conditions to their liking. Most are not exotics escaping into the the whole plant. “Flammability” then is, or particularly affected by pests and diseases and so have a head start over bush. Tasmania Fire Service should be, the outcome of these two factors. the local plants. Predicting whether a plant will become an environmental recommends that around There are many lists of plants in books but weed is not easy so it’s good practice to use native plants in gardens every house in bushfire unfortunately most should be treated with close to bushland. Known environmental weeds in Tasmania that have prone areas there should be suspicion because they haven’t been tested moderate or higher flammability should be doubly avoided and are a zone where vegetation and in an acceptable way. The trouble with a shown on the plant flammability list. other fuels are minimal (the lot of the books is they don’t tell us which Building Protection Zone) For further information consult your local DPIW or Council weed aspects of flammability are included and building protection zone and that this zone should be management officers. A useful pamphlet is “Garden Plants are Going how they are combined. surrounded by a further zone Bush… and Becoming Environmental Weeds” published by the Society for Testing the flammability of individual pieces where fuels are maintained Growing Australian Native Plants. at a low level (the Fuel of plant is usually done by taking a section Protecting Your Home of leaf and subjecting it to a flame and fuel modified zone Modified Zone). The widths measuring how quickly it burns. If you are of these zones vary with slope Replacement planting with wondering about the flammability of a few from 10 to 50 metres, and low flammability plants is not different plants,you can get a good idea using an LPG torch on pruned descriptions, widths and other information can be found in the Tasmania sufficient protection on its own. branches. Plants will of course burn differently once they are dead and dry Fire Service publication “Guidelines for Development in Bushfire Prone Areas People living on the urban fringe and so it is usual to test both green and dead samples. Plants with broad of Tasmania” (2005). When choosing fire retardant plants, other attributes and in rural areas need to be fleshy leaves are better than those with fine hard leaves (sclerophyll). should be taken into consideration such as their aesthetic appeal, aware of the risk of bushfire and Those with significant amounts of volatile oils, like the eucalypt family growth rate, resistance to drought and frost, and possibly their ability to prepare themselves and their which includes eucalypts and tea-trees, should be avoided. regenerate following fire. homes for when the fire comes. The Tasmania Fire Service publication “Prepare to Survive” provides good The influence of plant shape is a lot more subjective: low growing plants If fire retardant plants are to be grown, a firm commitment must be advice for householders on the urban fringe and rural areas who want to and ground covers are better than shrubs; plants with dense foliage are made to regularly maintain them or they may become a fire hazard. This prepare themselves and their homes for bushfires. This publication and better than those with open airy crowns; plants which don’t retain dead includes sufficient watering, so a high leaf moisture content is maintained, other advice is available from any Tasmania Fire Service office. material are better than those which hold up lots of fuel; plants with the removal of dead material and regular pruning of lower branches. smooth bark are better than those with ribbon and rough bark. Water availability is likely to be a problem in the drier months when the threat of fire is greatest. When choosing fire retardant species their water For further information The Role of Replacement Planting requirements need to be considered. There is no point growing plants as Fire retardant plants can absorb more of the heat of the approaching a protective measure against fire if they are going to die when they are Freecall 1800 000 699 bushfire without burning than more flammable plants. They can trap most needed. Indeed, all dead plant material will be a fire hazard. www.fire.tas.gov.au fire retardant 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 the Morus sp. E Mulberry their homes. However, not all vegetation has the same flammability and Eucalyptus amygdalina TN Black Peppermint Building Protection Zone. They should Myoporum insulare AN Boobyalla there is great potential for people living in bushfire prone areas to reduce Eucalyptus globulus TN Blue Gum not be allowed dominate your garden Nerium oleander E Oleander their fire hazard by changing the plants in their gardens. Eucalyptus obliqua TN Brown Stringybark and should be well maintained, being Olearia argophylla TN Musk Eucalyptus paniculata AN Grey Ironbark especially careful to remove dead Photinia glabra var. rubens E Chinese Fire Bush or material before it accumulates. Red-leafed Photinia Flammability Groups Eucalyptus pulchella TN White Peppermint Acacia melanoxylon - Blackwood Pittosporum bicolor TN Cheesewood In the following list E denotes an exotic plant, Eucalyptus viminalis TN White Gum Acacia baileyana AN X Cootamundra Wattle Pteridium esculentum TN Bracken Fern TN a plant native to Tasmania, AN a plant Exocarpos cupressiformis TN Native Cherry Acacia decurrens AN Green Wattle Rhododendron sp. E Rhododendron native to mainland Australia and X a known Flindersia australis AN Crow’s Ash Acacia mearnsii TN Black Wattle Rosa sp. E X Roses, Briars environmental weed. Gahnia grandis TN Cutting Grass Acacia melanoxylon TN Blackwood Salix babylonica E Weeping Willow Acacia podalyrifolia AN Mt Morgan Wattle Gleditsia tricanthos E Honey Locust Salix chilensis E Pencil Willow High Flammability Actinidia chinensis E Kiwi Fruit Grevillea x Poorinda AN Poorinda Cultivars of Grevilleas Sorbus aucuparia E Rowan Araucaria heterophylla AN Norfolk Island Pine These plants have been shown to be highly Grevillea robusta AN Silky Oak Spathodea campanulata E African Tulip Tree Atherosperma moschatum TN Sassafras flammable and should not be planted or Grevillea rosmarinifolia AN Rosemary Grevillea Syringa vulgaris E Lilac Bedfordia salincina TN Blanket Bush allowed to remain inside your house’s Building Ilex aquifolium E X Holly Weigela florida E Fairy Trumpets Beyeria viscosa TN Pinkwood Protection Zone. They should also be avoided Lepidosperma laterale AN Sword Rush Zieria arborescens TN Stinkwood Brachychiton acerifolius AN Illawarra Flame Tree in the Fuel Modified Zone. Move these plants Corymbia maculata Leptospermum lanigerum TN Woolley Teatree away from your house and replace them with Brachychiton discolor AN Lacebark - Spotted Gum Leptospermum scoparium TN Manuka, Teatree Low Flammability less flammable plants. Brachychiton rupestris AN Bottle Tree Lomandra longifolia TN Saggs These plants are acceptable Calodendrum capense E Cape Chestnut in the Building Protection Acacia dealbata TN Silver Wattle Melaleuca alternifolia AN Paperbark Canna indica E Canna Lily Zone and will be valuable Acacia stricta TN Hop Wattle Monstera deliciosa E Monstera Cassia floribunda E Smooth Cassia replacements for more Acacia verticillata TN Prickly Moses Nandina domestica E Sacred Bamboo Ceanothus papillosus E Pacific Blue flammable plants.