Gardening with Fire
the essential self- help manual for Home and Garden design in areas at risk of fire

Gardening with Fire, the essential self- help manual for Home and Garden design in areas at risk of fire" is essential reading if you are worried about the risk of forest fire / wildfire on your property in Portugal.
Chapters include:
- The ecology of a fire zone: the role of general climate, specific seasonal weather patterns, vegetation species, plus the natural and man-made causes of fire. This chapter also deals with factors that spread and intensify fires.
- Design elements for a safer home: including sections on your roof, doors and windows, and advice on construction materials.
- The area surrounding your home: lawns, pools, trees and your home; smoking outdoors; barbecues; irrrigation; fuel and machinery; children and fire; as well as a list of suitable low_fuel plants for growing near to your home.
- Designing a fire conscious garden: firebreaks; buffer zones; wild areas; shelterbelts; as well as a study of suitable fire retardant plants for your garden, and a list of plants to avoid and why.
- Other low-fuel areas within the garden: and how to turn these into attractive features.
- Essential information about evacuation: what to do when leaving your home, and if the worst comes to the worst, emergency first aid & dealing with burns of varying severity.
- dealing with the aftermath of a fire
"Gardening with Fire" is fully illustrated throughout, using the authorīs own photographs, that dramatically show the effects of the fires that led to the loss of her home and garden - and acted as her inspiration to try to prevent others from suffering the same loss.
Most of the plants listed both in "Gardening with Fire", and in the plant database the author is currently working on, have been selected to grow in these regions. Many of these plants have been selected also for their range of tolerances, not only to fire and extreme heat, but also to frost and cold periods. This means that they should grow in a wide variety of different garden situations.

Available in two formats: A CD Rom which you will receive in the post, costing 5 euros; and a .pdf printable document, which will be sent to you via email, costing 4 euros. To order, please choose your preferred format and click on the 'Buy Now' button below.
All copies sold include a donation to the author's local Volunteer Fire Sevice, the Bombeiros Voluntarios de Aljezur.
| Gardening with Fire CD Rom €5 | Gardening with Fire .pdf printable document €4 |
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for tourists and resident foreigners in Central Portugal