It’s officially fire pre-season in California. With our minds on both fire safety and ecosystem health, our staff are working with local parks and open space departments to help them plan their mowing schedules to achieve fuel load reduction goals.

Driving around the Santa Cruz Mountains lately, I have noticed a trend towards denuding the understory, thinning trees, limbing up remaining trees, and chipping everything that can fit through an industrial sized chipper. As a native plant and wildlife lover, it is hard to see such a change in the landscape. But, with a little information, there are some ways to create fire-smart landscapes that retain some of the natural understory, protect property from fire and invasive weeds, and provide for wildlife.