From Lee Swanson, University City Fire Safe Council: If you are looking for landscape ideas that comply with the guidelines for defensible space, the Water Conservation Garden (12122 Cuyamaca College Drive West, El Cajon) is a great resource. The Garden hosted the County Fire Safe Council meeting on July 8 and showed off its Firewise exhibit.
The defensible space exhibits start with a one-eighth scale Zone 0 exhibit (a fire hardened house complete with rain barrels), a demonstration garden of Zone 1 spacings and plantings, and finally Zone 2 for those properties along the canyon rims.
The plants are labeled, and there’s a QR code posted at the display that provides a list of the plants the garden uses. Many of the plants are California natives, but there are also Australian and South African plants that fit our climate.
Landscape architects often maintain that mulch is imperative in any landscape design. It feeds the soil and retains moisture. Defensible space guidelines call for rocks. The Water Conservation Garden opts for bare ground.
Zone 0 and HOAs became a major topic in the County Fire Safe Council meeting. Many HOA CC&Rs are less stringent than the Zone 0 guidelines. Sharing information and sample guidelines will help bring CC&Rs at HOA communities into compliance with the new law.
For more information:
- Contact Lee Swanson through the University City Fire Safe Council at: ucfiresafecouncil@gmail.com
- Water Conservation Garden: https://thegarden.org/
- UC Fire Safe Council: https://www.universitycitynews.org/fire-safe-council-university-city/
- San Diego County Fire Safe Council: https://firesafesdcounty.org/
Photos courtesy of Lee Swanson:
