Rohan Carboon in a garden planted with succulents near windows to reduce fire risk.
Camera IconRohan Carboon in a garden planted with succulents near windows to reduce fire risk. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Midvale: bushfire-wise garden workshop series to be held in lead up to summer

Lynn GriersonHills Avon Valley Gazette

As fire authorities warn of an “above normal” fire season, award-winning bushfire adviser Rohan Carboon launches a bushfire-wise garden workshop series in Midvale.

A new report by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre forecasts a hazardous summer with record summer rainfall, high fuel loads and the driest autumn in five years creating the perfect storm in fire-prone regions.

Mr Carboon said bushfire-wise gardens mitigate fire risk and balance environmental values with bushfire protection measures.

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“We live in a unique environment in the Hills and with some basic knowledge of what the risk is at your place, how fires behave and attack homes and threaten people, we can select better species and design the garden landscape to reduce that risk,” he said.

“A lilly pilly hedge will deflect wind, filter embers and reduce radiant heat reaching the house.”

He works with local governments and schools on bushfire risk management and evacuation plans and has advised Mundaring Christian College, Helena College and Parkerville Primary.

He recently assessed the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) ratings at the Yarloop town site for the state and local governments to assist in the rebuilding process.

Mr Carboon’s workshops will run in September and October at The Green Life Soil Company in Midvale and will look at the beneficial characteristics of plants, landscape design features, material selection and how to manage fuel loads.

People who attend a Gardening in Bushfire Country workshop will receive an aerial photograph of their property to help with planning.

Visit www.greenlifesoil.com.au/events.

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