HELENA — The Montana City Firewise Demonstration Garden can not only help beautify your yard, but also help you learn how to protect your home in case of a wildfire.
Drought-tolerant and fire-resistant plants can not only help your property look good but can also help mitigate fire risk. That’s the idea at the Montana City Firewise Demonstration Garden created through a partnership between the Tri-County Firesafe Working Group and the Montana City Volunteer Fire Department .
“We really want people to be safe in their homes. We want them to think about what their homes are made of, that’s what our signs talk about, and the brochures talk about, what’s growing around your home,” says Lois Olsen, Volunteer Project Manager for the firewise garden and President of the Tri-County Firesafe Working Group Board.
People can visit and get ideas at the garden which is full of around 100 various plants that can be placed on your property all while posing less of a fire risk than other highly flammable plants. Additionally, the garden utilizes gravel pathways and land cover: great for reducing fire risk.
Olsen says the point of the garden is to encourage people to be fire safe and understand that changing a few things around and their home and surrounding property can make all the difference in the face of a wildfire.
“The best safety zone for a home is to have the fire on the ground when it reaches your home. If it’s in the trees, if it’s throwing a lot of embers, you’re going to be a lot less safe. And that structure is going to be very difficult to protect. If you can get the fire on the ground and not running fast, that’s your best safety zone. And so, that’s what we’re trying to do here with the gravel, the types of plants, the zones. Just to have people be aware of those things and be safe in your home,” says Olsen.
This garden has been made possible in large part by hardworking volunteers who have already garnered 500 hours of work time. Eventually, there are plans to install some informative signs around the garden as well as a pavilion.
