Empty Spaces

In late March, I published a post discussing the "defensible space clearance" ordinance adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, intended to reduce structural losses in the event of wildfires in high-risk areas like mine.  I elected to get ahead of the game by removing selected plants my husband and I had concerns with.  Many people have commented that I was jumping the gun as the Fire Department's inspections won't be conducted until June or thereabout; however, my in-laws lost their home to a major wildfire in late 1993 and we know the pain associated with an event like that so our action was driven as much by that experience as by the new ordinance.  The crew arrived on Monday to act on my list.  Many of the plants we had removed were small but others were large enough to leave big empty spaces.

The area that had the biggest impact on the garden (and me) is one that sits directly outside my office window.

The area shown here was occupied by a massive Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' and a tree-sized Leucadendron 'Pisa'.  Acacias in general are considered flammable, although it may be arguable that Acacia trees present a higher risk than shrubs but this one was just a few feet from the house.  'Pisa', a Leucadendron hybrid, has a parent that's considered particularly flammable.    I expect to plant more succulents and smaller shrubs like Osteospermums here.

These are distance views of the affected area taken after (left) and before (right) the removal of the Acacia and the Leucadendron.  You'll note that the view of most of the back patio was blocked by the 2 shrubs in the "before" shot.

This is a reminder of what Leucadendron 'Pisa' looked like in full "bloom" last year

Clearance of another area including Acacia 'Cousin Itt', this one in the front garden, left a similarly sad empty space.

The area on the left is the "after" shot.  The photo on the right shows what it looked like with one large Acacia 'Cousin Itt' and a Salvia lanceolata that grew up through it.  I discovered the area underneath was riddled with the fibrous roots and tubers of asparagus fern.  I've already put 2 hours into clearing them and probably have another 2 hours of work to go.  I'm thinking of adding another Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and more Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' to the empty space to mirror the other side of the bed once it's ready for replanting.

Less noticeable to anyone unfamiliar with my garden is the removal of the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana) in front of the house on the the north side.

The fact that there was a tree there is nearly undetectable.  The work crew dug the stump out by hand in this case, rather than using a mechanical stump remover.

For the record, here's the tree in its glory days.  While close to the house, this tree was removed because it'd suddenly died.

I had all four of the large red powder puff shrubs (Calliandra haematocephala) removed, not because they're considered particularly flammable but because they were installed against the house and garage as foundation plants.  They were sheared every other month to keep them tidy and out of pathways, causing the accumulation of large volumes of dry foliage to build up within their canopies.  It was that dry foliage that made them flammable.  The constant shearing also prevented them from blooming abundantly, as they would were they allowed to grow naturally.

These are after and before shots of the area occupied by the Calliandra at the back of the house.  It hid the TV in the living room from view outside.  All I can do now is pull the shade.  I may plants succulents there.

These are after and before shots of the area occupied by 2 Calliandras on either side of a Pittosporum tobira at the front of the house.  The Pittosporum was originally on the list for removal but I took it off at the last minute.  I still need to prune the back side of all my Pittosporums to create more space between them and the house.

These are the after and before shots of the 4th Calliandra in front of the garage.  I'm planning to replant this area with assorted Agaves and other succulents.

Jacaranda foliage can be highly flammable when the plant enters its dormant phase, holding onto its dead foliage until spring arrives and the plant at last produces a flush of new foliage.  My Jacaranda 'Blue Bonsai' was planted several years ago and has never produced more than a few flowers.

The Jacaranda has a long ugly period each year as shown on the right.  It wasn't worth holding onto, especially as it was also only feet from the house.

I had six Nandina domestica (aka heavenly bamboo) in the front garden, all of which were here when we moved in.  These plants can be flammable when the culms die back.  Only one of those in my garden still looked good but it contained a lot of those dry culms and stood directly against the house next to our gas outlet.

These are after and before shots of the area occupied by the largest Nandina.  I'd like to find something to safely hide the pipes here.  Maybe a few more Agapanthus would do the trick.

We also decided to take out the two vines growing up a wood arbor adjacent to our house's roof overhang, a Pandorea jasminoides and a Trachelospermum jasminoides (aka star jasmine).  Both were decades old and very woody.

These are after and before shots.  My husband subsequently cut down the upper part of the arbor but the retention of the fence itself is under discussion.  The wood fence's direct connection to the house is ill-advised according to recommendations we've read.  However, I like the visual break between my cutting garden and the dry garden on the other side.  We're considering a fence constructed using other materials.

The remaining plants we had removed were all rosemary shrubs (Salvia rosmarinus).  I think there were ten or more in total but some had merged into one another over the years, making it hard to get an exact count.  I installed all of them and the failure to properly maintain many of them was entirely my fault.  I didn't realize how big these plants can get.  Lovely as they are in scent and flower, the resin in their foliage makes rosemary highly flammable.

These are the after and before shots of the area in my north-side garden previously occupied by 3 rosemary shrubs.  I'm thinking of adding another Phormium and more succulents here.

Top row: After and before shots of a rosemary surrounded by ivy in an area at the top of our concrete stairway
Next row: After and before shots of the rosemary shrubs extending down the back slope
Not shown: A mid-sized variegated rosemary in my back border, also removed

I missed two plants during Monday's exercise and the arborist didn't catch my omission when he gave instructions to his lead guy.  The two plants are native grasses, Festuca californica, which is highly flammable.  They're relatively small but not something I can easily dig out myself.  My husband's going to give them a try but, if he has difficulty with them, I'll add them to the pruning work list for the tree crew this coming fall.  As it is, the plants are largely hidden behind a massive Salvia canariensis so they contribute little to the garden's overall appearance..

I've already put a few hours into cleaning up some of the affected areas, I've got hours yet to put into the effort before any of them are ready for planting.  I also need to look into what I've got on hand that might be suitable to fill some of the empty spaces before I go shopping for additional plants.  My fingers are crossed that the Fire Department doesn't tag additional plants that require removal when their inspection is conducted.  As it is, I've identified another plant, Cistus ladanifer 'Blanche', that should probably be removed as I learned that, among all the members of the genus, that one is particularly flammable due to high levels of resin in its foliage.  And then there's the decision about the fence dividing my cutting garden from my north-side dry garden that needs to be addressed in one manner or another.

The State of California is also in the process of developing requirements related to a "Zone Zero" executive order signed by Governor Newsom earlier this year.  It mandates the creation of an "ember-resistant" area within five feet of structures in the highest risk areas.  The new regulations will apply to all new structures once they're enacted but are expected to roll out over a period of the next three years for existing structures.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party