How to prep your yard ahead of wildfire season

As the weather begins to warm in earnest, it's time to prepare yards for wildfire season. CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti reports.

Living within the city doesn’t mean you’re immune to wildfires.

Arborist Kevin Sproule says you want to look for fuels on the ground like dried shrubs, leaves and pine needles, especially near the river valley.

“The fire can grow up the tree and the fire then will travel through the canopy of really tall trees and potentially come close to your home,” explained Sproule.

While dry, dead trees are more flammable, health trees also pose a risk.

“Trees that are still living, they may have some dead branches in them. That would be a good idea to just remove the risk of igniting for wildfires,” said Sproule.

The overall health of your yard can stem from the types of trees in your area. Creekside Home and Garden owner Brock Friesen says planting the same trees as your neighbour can be a bad idea.

“That does create disease pressures, even if it’s a variety that’s not known to be,” said Friesen. “You’ve heard the term biodiversity. It applies in a city too.”

While bits of winter are still clinging on, those small bits of snow can help your yard flourish.

“The snow is actually reflecting the heat right now, if there’s snow left in your garden. So you don’t want to shovel the snow off because that’s the moisture,” said Friesen.

Even though stubborn snow may be keeping you from your garden, that moisture likely won’t last long.

“Once that snow does dry off, however, we would need continued rains throughout the spring and summer just to keep down the fire risk,” said Sproule.

Making it everyone’s job to remove dead shrubs, and not leaf it be.