Maintenance of Your Backyard Cedars and Reducing Fire Risk

In many areas that face an increased wildfire risk during the summer season, homeowners can and should take certain precautions to reduce the fire risk in their own yards. In today’s blog article, we are going to talk about reducing fire risk with your hedge cedars. 

Cedars 

Regarding your hedge cedars, the main precautions to take is to plant them five feet or more from the house. What we mean is you do not want your cedars less than five feet from the edge of the house, and not necessarily the exterior walls, but whatever is the outermost point, such as the roof or eaves or deck. 

Keep your cedars well watered. This is critical when they are young for their survival, but it is also important to reduce fire risk. And prune away any dead branches. Anything dead on the cedars would catch fire first. 

The Rest of the Yard 

As far as the rest of the yard goes, do not keep or pile up dead branches. Mulch them or discard them somewhere else. Aside from your cedars, do not grow anything within five feet of the house. This is not only a fire hazard, but shrubbery growing close to the house acts like a vector for insects and small animals to get into the house. 

Prune away any branches of large trees that overhang the roof or touch the house for the same reasons mentioned above. 

In areas at risk of wildfire, most fire departments publish public information for reducing fire risk at home. So, wherever you live, look to your local fire department and see if they have any handouts available either online or at the station. 

For new cedar hedging, give us a call on the Lower Mainland at (778) 241-5664. This is our business and area of expertise. 

Pacific West Cedars, based in Langley, British Columbia, farms, supplies, and installs cedar hedging on the Lower Mainland. They offer two kinds of cedars plus boxwoods: Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata), and Emerald Cedars (Thuja occidentalis “Smaragd”). They work with landscapers, contractors, and also directly with the public. 

If you have any questions about this article or would like to talk to us about cedars, we encourage you to call us at (778) 241-5664.