Gauteng ' s fire season is still a couple of months distant, but now is nonetheless a good time to examine your property, particularly your trees, to see whether you can do anything more to protect your home from fires. The aim of most smallholders is to encourage trees to grow on their land for shade, wood and landscaping. However, there are some which will do the opposite from protecting your property when they catch fire. It is well know that conifers such as pine and other fir trees, cedars, cypresses, spruces and yews are highly flammable because of their resin. Even conifers that are indigenous, such as the Mountain Cypress, are highly combustible. Blugums and other eucalypts are also most susceptible to fire. The windblown embers from pines and gum trees can travel a considerable distance and start spot fires. Another incendiary alien invasive tree is Solanum
FIRE WATCH
Plant indigenous to fireproof your smallholding
mauritianum or bugweed. This is a Category 1 declared weed, which requires that it should be controlled immediately. Large plants need to be cut at ground level and any regrowth treated with a suitable herbicide. Although not a tree, pampas grass is also likely to burn quickly and increase the intensity of a blaze. It too is a Category 1 weed. There are other ornamental grasses that will be equally problematic. Not all invasive alien trees burn quickly- Acacia mearnsii( Black Wattle), A dealbata( Silver Wattle) and Salix babylonica( Weeping Willow) aresomeofthemore threatening of the invasive trees but they are well adapted to fire. With the wattles there is the further complication in that they produce an abundance of seeds that accumulate in the soil. These seeds are stimulated to germinate en masse by fires, which means that burning can dramatically increase the number of plants.
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