Plan a xeriscape that helps protect your home

Landscape to resist wildfire

Photo: Contributed

Mock Orange in spring bloom in the wild on an Okanagan hill.

When designing landscapes in wildfire-prone areas, homeowners face the challenge of finding a balance between creating beautiful outdoor spaces while maintaining crucial fire protection for their homes.

Fortunately, several native plants offer both aesthetic appeal and FireSmart qualities. Three standout choices, Mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii), Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra), and Saskatoon Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) demonstrate that fire-wise landscaping doesn't mean sacrificing beauty.

Philadelphus lewisii, our native Mock Orange, earns its place in fire-smart gardens through several key characteristics. This deciduous shrub typically reaches six to 10 feet tall, producing masses of white, fragrant flowers in late spring that evoke the scent of orange blossoms. From a fire-safety perspective, Mock Orange excels because of its high moisture content and low resin levels.

Unlike many ornamental shrubs, it doesn't accumulate significant dead material within its structure, reducing the fuel load when properly maintained. The plant's broad, green leaves retain substantial water content throughout the growing season, making it less likely to ignite quickly. Its deciduous nature means it naturally drops leaves in fall rather than accumulating layers of dry, flammable debris as pyramid cedars tend to.

Mock Orange responds well to pruning, allowing homeowners to maintain open spacing between branches that helps to prevent fire from easily moving through the plant's structure. Position Mock Orange 1.5 to 30 metres away from a structure where it can still provide privacy and beauty without endangering your home.

If you garden in a small space, consider the diminutive cultivar ‘Snowbelle' which reaches only three to four feet tall and wide.

Rhus glabra, or Smooth Sumac brings both striking ornamental value and practical fire resistance to Okanagan landscapes. This native shrub features compound leaves that turn brilliant shades of orange and red in autumn, followed by persistent crimson fruit clusters that feed overwintering birds.

Growing eight to 15 feet tall, Smooth Sumac spreads through rhizomes to form colonies, making it excellent for erosion control on slopes. The fire-smart qualities of smooth sumac lie in its structure and composition. The plant maintains relatively high moisture levels in its foliage and stems during active growth. Its leaves are broad and flat, with smooth surfaces that don't trap heat or encourage rapid flame spread.

While Smooth Sumac does produce some woody material, it lacks the volatile oils found in many drought-tolerant plants. This species naturally self-prunes lower branches as it matures, creating vertical separation from ground fuels, a critical feature in fire-safe landscaping.Regular maintenance enhances Smooth Sumac's defensive qualities. Remove dead canes annually and thin colonies to prevent excessive density.

Space individual clumps of plants at least 10 feet apart to create natural firebreaks within your landscape.

Amelanchier alnifolia, commonly known as Saskatoon, is also suitable for planting in the perimeter of the intermediate zone, which is 1.5 to 10 metres away from a structure, it possesses several characteristics that make it a valuable addition to FireSmart landscaping.

This native Okanagan shrub is considered a fire-resistant plant due to its high moisture content in leaves and stems which helps slow the spread of flames. It maintains relatively lush foliage throughout the growing season, contributing to its lower flammability rating compared to many conifers or plants with resinous leaves.

Additionally, the Saskatoon can be pruned and maintained at a manageable height, allowing homeowners to keep it as a compact shrub rather than allowing it to develop into a taller bush which could provide ladder fuel which may carry fire from ground level into the tree canopy.

When planted as part of a well-maintained FireSmart landscape with adequate spacing, Amelanchier alnifolia can serve both aesthetic and protective functions, offering beautiful white spring flowers followed by edible berries while contributing to a defensible space around structures in our wildfire-prone valley.

All three plants share critical FireSmart characteristics with high moisture content, low volatile oil production, deciduous habits that prevent excessive dead material accumulation, and growth habits that make them amenable to maintenance pruning. Combine them throughout your defensible space, maintaining adequate spacing that prevents fire from jumping between bushes.

Remember that even fire-resistant plants require proper maintenance such as regular removal of any dead material.

With these three beautiful choices, you can create a landscape that's both defensible from fire and drought-tolerant.

Visit the FireSmart website to learn more about the best fire-resistant choices for your landscape.

Visit the OXA website to learn more about gardening successfully in the Okanagan and consider donating to the Refresh campaign, focussed on updating the OXA demonstration garden.

The Okanagan Xeriscape Association is grateful for the ongoing financial support of the Okanagan Basin Water Board and is proud to be collaborating on the Make Water Work campaign. Check out the Make Water Work plant list at makewater.ca

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.