How you can keep your home safer…by gardening

(NC) For many Canadians, gardening is a treasured pastime. It’s a great opportunity to get outside in the sun, get your hands dirty and create something that you can watch grow and thrive. But did you know that some of your yard activities can actually help protect your home?

Here are some tips for gardening that can keep your home safer from extreme weather events, including flooding and wildfires, from the prevention team at Intact Insurance:

Choose your plants to resist fire. Low-growing shrubs are a fire-resistant choice, especially when planted spread apart so that flames can’t jump from shrub to shrub. Don’t put any large plants within 1.5 metres of your home. This helps create a fire break. Coniferous trees, such as pines, are especially flammable, so keep them at least 10 metres from your home.

Trim, trim, trim. It’s important to deny fire the opportunity to spread, especially upward. Keep your grass trimmed under 10 centimetres, and prune any branches on trees that are lower than two metres off the ground. Be mindful of any high branches that reach your roof because that’s the part of your home that’s most vulnerable to fire. Trim any of those branches that you can reach safely.

A rain garden looks lovely and can make a difference. To create one, dig a depression or ditch about 85 centimetres deep, and at least five metres away from your foundation. Once you’re done digging, backfill it with rain garden soil mix, usually made of compost and sand, to a depth of around 60 centimetres. Remember: the rain garden should be sunken into the ground to allow it to capture water. To prevent erosion, line the edge with large stones that won’t blow around in a strong wind. Plant local shrubs and grasses in the depression, and let rain runoff fill the ditch and feed the plants.

Gardening is often its own pleasure, and by using that time to also protect your home, you’ll be planting seeds that will benefit you for years to come. You can find more tips to help protect your home from extreme weather events at keepitintact.ca.