It seems like the world is on fire this summer. Even if you don’t live in a zone with wildfires, you may be affected by the smoke from miles away. So how can you protect your property from damage?
We have two suggestions to help you keep your home and land safe from wildfires. The first is a step that your community may have already requested that you complete. It’s clearing weeds and brush away from your home and outbuildings.
If you haven’t already, grab one of the best weed eaters and take a whack at the overgrowth. The County of San Diego calls this creating “defensible space.” They recommend a 100-foot radius of clear land between buildings and vegetation.
Of course, you can plant fire-resistant irrigated plants within that radius. They recommend shrubs and other greenery that grows close to the ground. It’s best if the plants don’t build up a lot of dead leaves or needles or have a lot of sap.
In other words, pine trees and eucalyptus are not desirable. Instead, choose drought-tolerant high-moisture content plants like aloe, ice plants, and bush honeysuckle, and rockrose. As for trees, maple and cherry are less likely to go up in flames.
The second step is to ensure that the land around your home is properly watered. But this is less challenging than it sounds if you have one of the best lawn sprinkler systems. An automated irrigation system takes most of the work out of your hands.
Should you happen to have low water pressure, this is easy to solve. Some sprinklers make the most of water pressure under 60psi. Many of them are straightforward to control with timers, too.
In conclusion, it’s worth the effort to clear the land and irrigate properly. A little expense and effort now can prevent disaster later.