Can garden plant selection significantly reduce the effect of bushfire damage?
There is no doubt that it can. By thinking about the species that you plant and where you plant them – how close to structures such as houses and fences – you can reduce the damage the fire causes. Your decisions will impact on how the fire moves, what actually burns and how much debris will be flying around and this all helps to determine how much damage is done to the property. The topic of how readily hedges burn is very pertinent in Melbourne at the moment with the recent spate of arson attacks on hedges. Many conifers contain large amounts of resin and they go up like torches. In older gardens, you often see large Cupressus macrocarpa (Cypress) hedges up close to houses, even wooden houses, which poses a great risk. Eucalypts often produce oils that vaporise in the heat and they burn with great heat but very quickly. They are a hazard but only for a short time. Some plants are damaged by fire but don’t carry fire well eg some acacias (wattles) and Myoporum (Boobialla) species. The
