A fire-resistant landscape should be planned in terms of four zones, each with a different purpose. This is the area right around the house, planted with normal shrubbery and foundation plantings selected for their relative reluctance to burn. This area is called the greenbelt.
Plants are low-growing ground covers, resistant to fire and low in fuel volume.
In a fire, this zone also will burn, but help slow the fire. This is the outermost area, composed of existing native vegetation thinned to reduce the fuel volume of the plant and to create a transition area between the native vegetation and the plants around a home. In a fire, Zone Four will burn, but with less fuel available, it will slow the fire. It needs thinning and pruning. The information you receive on-line from Mercury Center is protected by the copyright laws of the United States.