So many of us in Hobart are lucky enough to have beautiful gardens that give us hours of enjoyment and create outside sanctuaries within the boundaries of our own homes.
Our gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Some people prefer a native garden, full of food and shelter for native wildlife, birds and insects, others are proud of their traditional cottage garden and its lovely, colourful flower beds.
But do you know how flammable your garden would be in a bushfire?
Or if you are designing a new garden do you know which plants are more likely to ignite quickly and help spread fire?
A guide to flammable garden plants
Through the Sparking Conversations, Igniting Action program, we have teamed up with Greater Hobart Councils and the Fire Centre at UTAS to produce a guide to flammable garden plants.
Fire Centre researchers have put more than a hundred common garden plants through their fire lab, testing each one for how easily it burns, how hot it burns, how long it burns and how much of the plant burns.
The results have been used to create a guide listing trees, shrubs, herbs, ferns and succulents commonly planted in Hobart gardens.
The flammability rating for each species ranges from low flammability to very high, and includes native trees like blue gums, wattles, sheoaks and banksias, exotics like maples, birches and bay trees.
Rhododendrum, correa, heath, box and olive trees have also been tested for their flammability.
Copies are available at the City of Hobart Customer Service Centre and a digital guide is available on the Sparking Conversations, Igniting Action website.
Get the online guide
Dr Stefania Ondei, a researcher in Fire Science and Physical Pyrogeography at the University of Tasmania, put more than 100 plants through a rigorous testing regime to determine their flammability.
Wildlife gardens and living with fire
Good garden design allows us to create gardens that provide food and shelter for native wildlife while helping us minimise bushfire risk. While all plants can burn under the right conditions, some are less flammable than others. This guide provides a quick reference for considering lower flammability options when designing your garden and minimising fire risk.
Incorporating a variety of native plants can create a more resilient ecosystem, attracting beneficial birds, insects and wildlife and enhancing the overall health of your garden.
If your garden features highly flammable plants, consider spacing them out and keeping them at a safe distance from your home.
By combining fire-safe practices with biodiversity-friendly choices, you can create a beautiful and resilient garden.
Preparing your home for bushfire
During a bushfire, embers can ignite vegetation and other flammable items on and surrounding your home. Embers can enter your property through spaces and cracks, gutters and eaves, or set fire to flammable material close to your home.
With the right preparation, your property has a much higher chance of surviving a bushfire if you:
- Keep grass short and prune shrubs so they are not too dense.
- Move wood, mulch or any flammable material well away from your home.
- Be prepared to move all flammable equipment and furnishings inside or away from the house.
- Use non-flammable materials like pebbles or gravel close to the home.
- Block gaps under floors, in roof spaces, under eaves, external walls, skylights, around windows and doors, chimneys and wall cladding.
For more tips visit the Tasmania Fire Service website and download their Bushfire Safety Guide.