Gardening After the Fire

            First of all, our thoughts and prayers go out all the people of California that suffered losses in the fires of October.  For those of us lucky enough to have made it through with out losing our homes, we now need to look at what we can do to help our burned, dried-out, ash covered gardens.

            First of all, do not worry about the ashes. They do not harm the plants and actually add potassium to the soil.

            The major priority, if your yard did get fire damage is erosion control. Make sure your drainage systems around the house are clear of debris. Look at your slopes and see how your groundcover looks. If your slopes are bare, you need to prepare for the winter rainy season.

            The most immediate control method is to roll out erosion control mats on your slope. These are a fiber matrix blanket that you can anchor onto your slope to keep your soil from washing down the hill.

            You can also have your slope Hydroseeded with an erosion control seed mix.

            The long term solution is to replant your slope with soil retaining fire resistant plants. Good choices are:

-Groundcovers:         

• Ornamental Strawberry

• Ice Plants

• Trailing Rosemary

• Ivy Geranium

• Ground Morning Glory

• Thyme

• Ceanothus griseus ‘Horizontalis’

• Ajuga

• Vinca Minor

            The following are some good choices for fire resistant landscape plants:

-Trees:           

• Citrus

• Olive

• Pomegranate

• Eastern Redbud

• European White Birch

• Chinese Flame Tree

• Honey Locust

• Liquidambar

• Purple Locust

• Willow

• Japanese Privet

• Sycamore

-Shrubs:         

• California Lilac

• Sage

• Yarrow

• Indian Hawthorne

• Lavender

• Butterfly Bush

• Texas Privet

• Penstemon

• Bird of Paradise

• All Succulents

• Mountain Lilac

-Perennials:  

• Kangaroo Paw

• Society Garlic

• Agapanthus Lilly of the Nile

• Hemerocallis Daylilly

• Coreopsis

• Carex Sedges

• Heuchera Coral Bells