51. Fire Recovery in the Designed Landscape

The North Bay Fires of last October were truly a tragic event.  A disastrous combination of high winds and very dry landscapes led to an unprecedented number of fires that moved incredibly fast and spread to many parts of Sonoma and Napa Counties.  In addition to the horrible loss of life, almost 9,000 structures burned along with hundreds of thousands of acres of forest, grassland, and cultivated landscapes.  The good news is that the people of Northern California have shown great support for those effected and recovery and rebuilding is well underway.

This is not a news article or an expert guide to recovery, but as a landscape architect working in the affected areas I wanted to share some thoughts and ideas for how to approach the rebuilding process for a home landscape.

First and Foremost

There are a few things that need to be done right away on a property that has burned, hopefully at this point most homeowners have already taken care of them, but they are critical to remember.  Any burned structures need to be demolished and disposed of according to local and federal regulations for hazardous waste (see the links below for more information).  For rural sites, any plastic piping for well water supply and septic systems needs to be checked for damage and replaced, and PG&E should of course be consulted to check for damage to any gas and electrical lines.  Burned sites may also have damage to irrigation piping, wiring for lighting and other equipment that needs to be replaced before it is safe to use again.

Erosion control is a second issue to take care of right away.  In many grassland sites, the natural seed bank in the ground is already sprouting up annual grasses and weeds which help with holding the soil in place during rain.  However, where there is loss of larger shrubs and trees, and on steep slopes, installation of erosion control measures are probably needed.  These usually take the form of grass seeding and barriers such as straw wattles, straw blankets and silt fences.  You may have already seen some hydroseeding / hydromulching installed – it has a characteristic green fluffy look because it is a mulch and seed combination sprayed from a truck.  Both Napa and Sonoma County have good resources to learn more about these things on their websites (see below). Another potential hazard is burned trees that could uproot and fall over, or drop large limbs. It is important to have a certified Arborist evaluate the trees on your property for such risks to prevent utility lines being pulled down or a road blocked.  If you do remove large trees be sure to leave the stump for now to aid in holding the soil in place.

Rebuilding Your Garden

Obviously if you lost your house, that is the first priority for rebuilding, but I have seen several properties where the fire fighters were thankfully able to save the structures but unfortunately not the gardens.  The landscaping is of course easier to replace and in some cases more resilient to fire damage.  I have been asked a few times “will this plant survive” and its often tough to give a definitive answer until the spring growth season starts.  In the case of the many beautiful old Oak trees of the area, its best to ask a certified Arborist to evaluate them, but even they may say that you just have to wait until spring and see what happens.  I am no expert but I have read that blackened tree trunks don’t automatically mean the tree is dead.  The bark is there to protect the tree after all, and many California native trees evolved to survive natural grass fires.  There is a layer of tissue below the bark called the Cambium that serves as the circulatory system between root and leaf.  If this layer is even partially intact then the tree will survive and grow to recover.  Many shrubs, perennials and grasses are also fire-adapted and can be expected to sprout back from the ground this spring.

However, in the case of trees and larger shrubs it may be more of a question of how nice it will look in the coming years as it recovers.  You may prefer to start with a smaller new and completely healthy specimen rather than struggle to get an existing plant looking nice again.  I too am learning more and more about how gardens recover from fire, but so far what I’ve seen makes me optimistic that garden plants can survive and look good again fairly quickly.

Fire Safe Landscaping

The need for fire safe landscaping is more obvious to us all now and no doubt the city and county agencies will be strict with their permitting requirements for new landscapes.  I have previously written on the issues of Fire Safe landscaping in this blog posting.  The design strategies include creating defensible space, avoiding plant arrangements that create fire ladders, removal of highly flammable plantings, and maintaining the garden properly to minimize fuel for a wildfire.

Opportunities from Loss

As a designer of landscapes I do of course see opportunities in the loss of landscape plants - the chance to take the garden in new directions, replace water guzzling plants with drought tolerant species, add other sustainable features, and create wonderful new outdoor living spaces. As sad as losses from a fire can be, there is great potential for the creation of fresh new gardens that are more resilient to fire and drought, lasting far into the future.

References and Resources

Sonoma County:

The Rebuilding Together site is a great place to start: http://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Rebuilding/https://www.sonomacountyrecovers.org/debris-removal/https://www.sonomacountyrecovers.org/rebuild/

Napa County:

The Napa County Resource Conservation District has many great resources: http://naparcd.org/fire/http://naparcd.org/after-the-fire-rcd-and-nrcs-can-help/

Napa County official fire web site: https://www.countyofnapa.org/2225/Rebuilding-After-the-Fire

University of California Cooperative Extension fire related resources: http://cenapa.ucanr.edu/Resources_for_Fire_and_Disaster/

Among the many news articles on the fire, here is a good overview: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Wine-Country-fires-destroyed-8-889-structures-12328007.php

Burned Oaks – Which Ones Will Survive?  By Doug McCreary and Glenn Nader, University of California College of Agriculture and Natural Resources http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8445.pdf