Landscaping for Bushfire: Garden Design and Plant Selection

Landscaping for Bushfire: Garden Design and Plant Selection by the Country Fire Authority, Victoria.

As part of its response to the Black Saturday bushfires that devastated Victoria in 2009, the state’s Country Fire Authority (CFA) has released a free publication aimed at educating landscape architects and home gardeners about ways to prepare for future bushfire seasons.

The information-rich booklet emphasizes the importance of focusing on the location and arrangement of “fuel,” or vegetation, particularly on high-risk properties. The CFA makes the point that appropriate design principles and plant selection can increase the likelihood of a house surviving a bushfire, even if the residents’ plan is to leave early.

Well-placed vegetation with low flammability could actually help protect a house. For example, plants with a coarse texture have a lower surface-area-to-volume ratio, which makes them less flammable than plants with a fine texture. Plants with branches at least two metres above the ground are safer because the branches are less likely to act as fuel ladders.

The eight sections in the booklet cover topics including bushfire behaviour, planning a garden for new and existing houses and choosing suitable plants. This is an important resource to get your hands on.

Country Fire Authority, Victoria, paperback, 2011, 64 pages. Free: cfa.vic.gov.au.