Las Pilitas Nursery

California Native Plants are all we grow!

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3232 Las Pilitas Rd
Santa Margarita, CA 93453

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Garden fire questions (answer a,b,c,d,e if needed)  Print and take

1. Which is least flammable in a  September California garden?
__ a. An Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica) on drip irrigation (alive, no dead foliage)
__ b.  A apple tree in an orchard (alive, no dead foliage)
__ c.  A Redwood deck
__ d.  A Herb garden on drip (alive, no dead foliage)
__ e.  An unwatered Ceanothus, California Mountain Lilac (alive, no dead foliage)

2. Which burns faster?
__a. Dead weeds such as mustard, thistles and annual grasses
__b. Greasewood, Adenostoma (unwatered)
__c. Sage, Salvia  plants (unwatered)
__d. Manzanita (unwatered) 
__e. Sumac, Rhus   (unwatered) 

3. Which causes greater erosion ?
__a.. Seeding grasses 
__b.  Leave the slopes alone  

4. List in order of flammability
__a. Buddleja davidi ('Butterfly bush') (regular water)  
__b. Ivy, Algerian (regular water) 
__c. Oleander(on drip)  
__d. San Diego Sage, Salvia munzii (unwatered) 
__e.  Toyon,
Heteromeles arbutifolia(unwatered) 

5. What is the common flame height of oak leaf mulch or shredded redwood bark?
Once you see or smell a fire it is too late to do much.
__a. it doesn't burn
about 1 inch
__c. about a foot
__d. about three feet
__e. about 10 feet

6. To make your home firesafe this is important
__a. Do consistent garden hygiene
__b. Select plants carefully
__c. Be weed free
__d. Limited planting
__e. Limit shade structures

7. Which appears to be more effective in reducing flammability in a native garden?
__a. Weekly watering on drip.
__b. A wash off watering once a week or so with a hose or sprinkler.
__c.  Daily watering on drip.
__d.  Replacing native plants with garden plants
__e.  Weed  control

8. Which is a better predictor of a wildfire?
__a. Length of Drought
__b. Rainfall from the year before
__c. Days above 95F.
__d. Spring Drought
__e. El Nino or La Nina

9. How much flame height can a mowed field have with  wind behind it?
__a. it doesn't burn
__b. about 1 inch
__c. about a foot
__d. about three feet
__e. about 10 feet

10. Which is the smallest threat to your home in a fire storm? (Assuming you have a maintained 60 foot zone around the home.(see Cohen, 1999))
__a. The neighboring openspace.
__b. Your neighbors home.
__c.  Embers falling from the sky.
__d.  Garden hygiene,  no wood pile,  weed pile or junk
__e.  Deck Furniture, awnings and deck themselves.


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