Fire-wise landscaping and pollinator friendly gardening: Conflicting goals?

As fire season gets underway, the county is encouraging property owners to minimize the chances that garden plants will provide fuel for flames. Do some of these suggestions run counter to recommendations for creating a thriving native plant garden for pollinators? Yes, to an extent, but there are workarounds that can satisfy both goals. As the images above suggest, there are a number of ways to achieve a fire-smart garden.

Two issues come to the fore in planning a fire-wise garden. One pertains to plant choice and the other to the use of mulch on the surface of the soil.

With respect to plant choice, there are many types of native trees and pollinator plants that are fire resistant. However, some are not, including for example manzanitas, coyote brush, and California buckwheat. If you are selecting new plants, this list of fire-resistant and fire-prone plants can be very helpful. In general, less fire-prone plants have leaves that are high in moisture, contain relatively less wax, oil, and resin, and have an open structure.

With respect to the space around the plants, native plant gardeners have typically been advised to allow organic matter to remain on the surface of the soil in order to accommodate plant self-seeding and to provide habitat for insects and other creatures. Current fire-safe advice is less supportive of leaf litter, specifying the removal of dry, woody vegetation including clumps of fallen leaves and pine needles, particularly near structures.

Similar to general advice on native plant gardening, fire-safe versions acknowledge the role of organic mulch in conserving soil moisture, impeding the grown of weeds and adding organic matter as it breaks down. However, fire-safe versions commonly recommend that gardeners use nonorganic mulch such as rocks and gravel in the five foot zone surrounding homes and other structures, and suggest that nonorganic mulch also be used to demarcate plant “islands.” Fire-safe advisors further suggest that between five and 30 feet from structures, gardeners should select composited wood chips — rather than fine, stringy mulches — to a depth of only two inches with another inch permissible in the case of large gardens extending more than 30 feet beyond the structures.

So the gardener has a considerable latitude in creating a fire-safe native plant garden, but achieving this goal requires careful thought about how to approach plant selection and placement as well as ways to create healthy soil conditions for the plants and resident insects, birds, and other creatures. To obtain detailed information on these topics, consult these helpful guides by Fire Safe Marin and the Marin Master Gardeners.