Valuable information for fire resilient landscaping from Texas A&M

Texas A&M Wildfire Education and Prevention offers some valuable information to create a fire resilient landscape this spring.

🏠 When planning your fire resilient landscape, think of your trees (and other landscape plants) as potential fuel for a wildfire.

🔥 Fires need oxygen, heat, and fuel to burn. By controlling the amount and type of fuel available to a fire, we can alter the fire’s behavior around our homes.

🌻 We accomplish this by planting fire resistant vegetation with enough space between each plant/tree that fire won’t readily spread from plant-to-plant or tree-to-tree.

Here are some tips that will help you determine where to plant your next tree.

🌳 Plant your tree based on its mature size, not its current size.

🌳 Leave at least ten feet between the mature crown’s dripline and the edge of your house.

🌳 Plant trees singly or in small clusters.

🌳 Allow at least 18 feet between the canopies of each tree or cluster within 30 feet of your house.

🌳 Allow at least 6 to 12 feet between trees or clusters beyond 30 feet of your house. The closer the tree is to the house, the more space it needs.

🌳 When planting on a slope, increase the space between tree canopies.

🌳 For shrubs planted under trees: keep 6 to 10 feet of space between the top of the shrub and the lower branches of the tree.