Action sheet — Before the fire
Splitting your hedge: maintaining privacy, breaking up the monotony
A continuous cypress hedge linking the scrubland to your terrace acts as a firebreak that you have created yourself. A three-metre gap every ten metres — or a few targeted replacements — maintains the visual screen whilst eliminating the fire corridor.
Key points
- There is no continuous hedge between the natural vegetation and the built-up area — this is THE classic fire corridor.
- A 2–3-metre-long break in the paving every 8–10 metres (gate, openwork section, gravel path).
- Cypress, thuja and Leyland cypress on the exposed side: these should be replaced as a matter of priority with fire-resistant deciduous trees.
- The section within 3 metres of the façade is removed first.
Equipment: chainsaw/saw · gravel or stepping stones (gaps) · replacement plants (laurel, arbutus, etc.)
Why it’s important
Coniferous hedges (cypress, thuja, Leyland cypress) have it all: volatile resins, fine, dense foliage, preserved internal deadwood, and chronic dryness at the core. A 30-metre hedge bursts into flames in less than a minute, sending a 5-metre-high wall of fire… right along your property boundary, often right up to the wall. Case studies are full of examples of houses that have been engulfed ‘via the hedge’. Breaking up the hedge halts the fire’s progress and provides fire crews with points to stop it. The choice of tree species is detailed in defensive garden.
How to do it, step by step
Identify the critical sections
In order: the section adjacent to natural vegetation, the section within 3 metres of the building, the section beneath a window or along the escape route.
Create the interruptions
Remove 2–3 metres of hedge every 8–10 metres. Add features such as a gate, a metal or openwork wooden screen, a gravel path, or a deciduous climbing plant on an arch — these catch the eye, but do not obstruct traffic.
Replace the sensitive sections
On the exposed side: replace with understated evergreen deciduous trees (laurel, spindle tree, arbutus, eleagnus), planted in a staggered, discontinuous pattern. Growth: 2–3 years to form a decent screen.
Look after what’s left
Annual pruning (the sides AND the top), removal of dead wood from inside the hedge, and moderate watering in summer: a neat, green hedge burns much more slowly.
Treat the foot
No bark mulch or dry grass at the base of the tree on the side facing the house: a 50 cm strip of gravel — your ground-level firebreak. See mineral mulch.
The mistakes that ruin everything
- Chop it up… and leave the cuttings to dry in the garden all summer.
- Filling in the gaps with PVC reed fencing or dry brush — worse than a hedge.
- Focus only on the height: a low, continuous hedge still acts as a firebreak at ground level.
- Replanting Leyland cypress ‘because it grows quickly’ — that’s precisely the problem.
The tip that makes all the difference
For immediate privacy to ward off intruders: a lattice screen + well-watered star jasmine, or simply a shade sail in summer. The psychological barrier matters more than actual privacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
The risk changes every day. So do your reflexes.
Check the fire alert status for your department, keep track of current fires and report a fire via the Feux de Forêt mobile app.