The Latest Dirt - July 2024

Living in Wildfire Country: Summer Tasks

Article & Photos by Marilyn Saarni

Our wildfire season is officially here—it’s early this year, with our rainy winter producing plenty of vegetation. The summer heat is drying out many plants, while water consumption is increasing. For those in wildfire country, it’s time to begin the intensive maintenance for the fire season. Here are some of those summer firewise tasks.

Gather all dry debris, such as fallen leaves, throughout the garden, working outward from your house, and dispose of it in your green waste can. It’s almost impossible to maintain a safe compost pile during fire season. Don’t forget to check your wood fencing—pine needles catch on rough wood and spider webs. On Red Flag Days, this is a daily task, so review how you can simplify it (E.g., adding paths or steppingstones for easier access, purchasing a variable electric blower, increasing hardscape areas, noting which plants are heavy litterers and deciding whether they should be replaced.)

Zone 0 (0-5 ft from structures) is a no-grow zone—remove all plants and flammable materials such as firewood piles (these should be located beyond Zone 1—beyond 30 ft from structures). While you can leave bare mineral earth, don’t use organic mulches here—best to fill with hardscape materials such as gravel and rock at least 3” thick, pavers or cement.

If you haven’t mulched yet in Zone 1 (5-30 ft from structures), add well-rotted compost with little woody matter (if any—food compost is ideal). Or use rock—it will help retain moisture in the soil.

By now, the spring bulbs and early annuals are done, and many of you have already cleared away the dried debris. If you haven’t, that’s an easy task to do first. Don’t forget to save seeds for fall-time planting!

For other plants, cut back any dead flower stalks (deadheading while thinning); many plants will reward you with repeat blooms. For pollinator plants such as salvias, this will also promote a more sustained bloom through summer, provided you supplement with some water.

The pollinators will thank you. (Salvia tip: cut stem to second or third node above ground or where you already see new growth.)

If you keep sedges, check for dry strands to see if you should cut back. Keep checking to make sure they stay green. Established sedges come back.

Thin woody shrubs. For large shrubs, trim all lower foliage as well. Thinning now will likely last for the rest of the fire season as vigorous spring growth is slowing down. Remember the rule of never removing more than a third of the foliage. Use caution to leave enough foliage so the bark on branches is not exposed to damaging hot sun. Don’t prune recently planted and young trees except for broken branches and essential shaping. They are building solid trunks and root systems and require their leaves to do that.

It’s time to inspect your fire breaks and separation of plantings. Trim any plantings that have expanded into your fire break gravel or paved paths. If you have any understory plants growing taller than planned and threatening to form fuel ladders that could carry fire into tree canopies, consider cutting them back to a good height or removing them.

If a tree has grown enough to lift, remove lower branches. (Transplanting is harder at this time of year, and for most plants, a winter transplant will be more successful.) The rule of thumb is minimum clearance from tree canopy to understory should be three times the height of the underlying plants. That is, a 2-foot-tall perennial should have a clearance of 6 feet to the tree’s canopy.

Cut grasses and weeds to 4” or less and remove debris. If you let your grass lawn die back for summer, you should still remove all cut grass, so it won’t create fuel for embers. If you’re watering and mowing your lawn through the summer, allow the cuttings to stay on the lawn so they help keep your lawn retain moisture.

If you are replacing exterior entry mats, select rubber or nonflammable materials (metal chain ones are also available, but they are harder to find). Avoid coir mats, as they are highly flammable and known to burn hot enough to cause door failures, allowing embers to enter.

If you have unhealthy plants, cut them to the ground or remove them altogether. Mourn, but then move on. This isn’t the season to struggle to keep a risky plant alive.

If you must remove large shrubs or trees, please work carefully and do the work as early in the day as possible, as some birds still nest. Lindsay Wildlife Museum is our local wildlife rescue, but they do not accept non-native wild birds. A better option is waiting for significant work on large shrubs and trees until late August or September. Prime season for major pruning or removing trees altogether is October-December, as some birds start nesting now as early as January. Even in late December, owls will be seeking nesting sites.

Stay safe and keep cool this summer!