SAN DIEGO — Having defensible space around your home during fire season is critical to keeping it safe from wildfires.
CBS 8 viewers wanted to know which types of plants are fire safe in the yard around the home and which ones are not, so our verification team went to work. Our sources are the California Native Plants list from the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County and Tiger Palafox, plant expert, and manager at Mission Hills Nursery.
Certain types of plants in the yard around your home can be crucial in slowing down and stopping the spread of fire. According to the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County, one of the best native plants for defensible space is the Ceanothus, commonly called the California Lilac.
“This plant has green foliage, you know, very watery-filled stems, self-cleaning, not a lot of debris underneath it,” said Palafox while holding up a Ceanothus plant.
Another fire-safe plant on the list is the California Yarrow.
“Yarrows are great fire-protecting plants as well because they spread, they’re low-growing, very clean, not a lot of debris under them,” said Palafox. “This acts like a good ground cover and creates that separation, but at the same time, it’s very pretty while doing it.”
And rounding out the top three fire-resistant plants is the Manzanita.
“Manzanitas are very hardwood plants, which means that it’s very difficult for them to catch fire initially, but they do hold a lot of water in their foliage at the same time,” said Palafox. “If a fire comes through, it’s going to slow it down tremendously.”
So we can verify that Ceanothus, Yarrow, and Manzanitas are safe, fire-resistant plants to have in the yard. But which types are more prone than others to catching fire?
“Juniper, very good, you see it, you think it’s evergreen, low-growing, you think it would act as a really good fire break, but at the same time, junipers have a lot of oils in them that can catch fire,” said Palafox.
“This is rosemary, wonderful fragrance, wonderful blue flower, great to use as an herb, but at the same time, has oils in it that are very flammable, so you have to be very careful because this plant actually catches fire very easily,” said Palafox.
And rounding out the list is a tree native to Australia, the Eucalyptus.
“The reason why Eucalyptus is so dangerous in fire-prone areas is #1 the oil in them catches fire and actually creates an explosion, so the plants begin to pop and they begin to crack and explode, which then sends embers all over the place,” said Palafox. “As the fire is climbing the tree, it acts as dynamite, it actually explodes and it’s because it contains that oil.”
So we can verify that Junipers, Rosemary, and Eucalyptus are not safe around your home when it comes to resisting fires.
If you have a question you’d like us to verify, email us at verify@cbs8.com.
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