By Brent Ainsworth
The Marin Independent Journal
NOVATO, Calif. — Defensible space around a home is critical in areas where wildland fire is a constant threat, but that doesn’t mean a house has to be surrounded by a ring of rocks.
In fact, defensible space can be beautiful. That’s the theme behind Novato Fire Station No. 3 and its new non-pyrophytic garden, full of plants that won’t catch on fire as quickly as most other plants and that use less water, too.
The station in the city’s San Marin neighborhood used to have a lawn. In May of last year, the fire district met with officials from the North Marin Water District and decided that the sprinklers should be turned off to help the station comply with water-use restrictions. The station had dead grass during the summer and early fall.
“At first, we got a couple of calls from neighbors who wondered if it was going to stay that way,” said firefighter/paramedic Forest Blue, manager of the garden project.
Blue thought a fire-resistant, low-water garden would be a perfect opportunity to educate residents about the wildland urban interface, the place where human development such as a house meets with vegetation that serves as fuel in a wildfire.
“We wanted to provide a place where people can go see to learn more about these types of plants rather than just reading about them,” Blue said. “They can bring their (landscape) designers here if they want to. We have pamphlets that they can take to a nursery and say, ‘I want this one.’”
Boy Scouts, Brownie Girl Scouts, Rotary Club members and other volunteers helped firefighters do the dirty work in December. With nearly 30 people on hand, the process only took two hours.
The result is a mini-arboretum with 52 plant species and 800 plants in all with a meandering wheelchair-friendly pathway and small footbridge. The plants include: natives such as white yarrow, Pacific Coast iris and seaside daisy; arid garden plants such as soap aloe, ice plant and cape rush; shady plants such as lily turf and choral bells; and flowers such as trailing African daisy, Russian sage and star jasmine.
In addition, there are nine species of trees that are approved by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for planting underneath power lines.
Mary Pritchard, principal of San Ramon School one block away, said the garden is already a great addition to the neighborhood.
“I walk by it when I go for my morning walks and I think it is fabulous what has happened there,” she said. “With all the species there and all the low-water plants, it can be a perfect tie-in for our life science curriculum.”
Blue, who served as project manager of the garden, had many collaborators in the planning and building stages, including fellow firefighters, neighborhood volunteers, professional designers, landscape designers, contractors and local companies that donated materials.
“It feels incredible because this is a huge accomplishment, especially with these economic times,” Blue said. “The biggest thing is getting people there to see it and learn from it.”
If you’re interested
A public ribbon-cutting ceremony to debut Novato Fire District’s community demonstration garden will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Station 3, 65 San Ramon Way. For information, call 878-2683. For details about the wildland urban interface, go to www.novatofire.org
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