The following information is referenced in San Juan County pamphlet: “Living Firebreaks for the San Juan Islands.” The following table provides shrubs that remain moist and leafy into the fall, can help to reduce/eliminate noxious weeds, and help to form the backbone of a living firebreak. All of them share these key characteristics:

1. They are native to the San Juan Islands, although some are also available from nurseries as ornamental hybrids.
2. They spread easily but can easily be managed by aggressive pruning.
3. They retain a significant amount of moisture in their stems and leaves until autumn when rains resume.
4. They have attractive flowers and/or fruit, and They make good nesting and/or feeding habitat for birds.
5. And they are all relatively easy to grow!

Botanical family	Common name	Scientific name	Propagation
Ericaceae	Salal	Gaultheria shallon	Rhizome cuttings
	Pacific rhododendron	R. macrophyllum	Seeds sown in flats*
Adoxaceae	Red or blue elderberry	Sambucus racemosa or Sambusus nigra	Live stakes
Rosaceae	Pacific crabapple	Malus fusca	Root cuttings
	Serviceberry	Amelanchier alnifolia	Seeds sown in fall
Caprifoliaceae	Orange honeysuckle	Lonicera ciliosa	Seeds or cuttings
	Pink honeysuckle	Lonicera hispidula	Seeds or cuttings
Twinberry	Lonicera involucrata	Live stakes
Grossularaceae	Gooseberries	Ribes spp	Layering or cuttings

* Seeds should not be covered; they require light to germinate! Germination takes three weeks

Please Note: The above table references Ocean Spray, however San Juan County no longer recommends Ocean Spray as a firebreak.

Notes on Shrubs in above table:

1. Rhododendrons, salal are relatively fire-resistant, and many of them are attractive as well as important late summer sources of food for birds.
2. Honeysuckles (Lonicera including twinberry); Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca) and serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) in the Rose family; currants and-gooseberries (Ribes spp), of which several species are native to our area, attractive, and tasty.
3. Domestic currants and gooseberries and domestic crabapples are easily integrated into a living firebreak as well.

Native Trees:
For practical reasons, a garden started to help reduce/eliminate weeds or create a firebreak should begin with faster-growing shrubs that prevent colonization of bare soils by fire-prone and weed plant species. Once the shrubs take hold, the trees and smaller plants can be added later.

Native trees: Maples (perhaps the most fire-resistant), Native Douglas or Big-Leafed maples