Free workshop offers advice on fire-wise landscaping renovations
Did you know citrus trees are considered fire-smart plants? Learn about defensible space and firescaping options April 8. Kathy Morrison
Yes, your landscape can help protect your home against wildfire. It’s not just what you grow, but where.
Find out how during a free in-person workshop, offered by the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Placer County.
Set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 8, “Firescaping: Get ahead and slow the spread!” will spotlight the concept of “defensible space” – creating a buffer zone around your home or other structures and surrounding wildland. The one-hour session will be held at Loomis Library, 6050 Library Drive, Loomis.
“There is a way to organize your landscape and maintain your garden that will help create defensible space around your home,” say the master gardeners. “We’ll discuss what the research is telling us about the best practices we can implement in our landscapes to slow the spread of fire while still being able to enjoy a beautiful garden.”
A big difference between firescaping and low-water gardening: Plant choice. Such favorite low-water Mediterranean plants as rosemary burn easily due to the high oil or resin content in their leaves. Evergreen conifers such as pines also may not be fire-wise – even though they may be native. Low-water native grasses tend to burn rapidly.
Among the plants recommended for firescaping: Daylily, butterfly bush, lavender, salvia, coreopsis and ceanothus. Some fruits, too: Citrus and blueberries, for example.
With so much moisture in the soil, this spring will be a good time for landscape renovation; new plants will be quicker to get established. On the down side, all that rain will likely increase fire danger later this year due to lush vegetation in our foothills and wildlands.
Add the master gardeners, “With so many Placer County residents living amongst the wildland interface, the time is now to make a plan for your house and yard to create a firewise landscape.”
For more details: https://pcmg.ucanr.org/.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 5
Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:
* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.
* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.
* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
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