mulch

The blaze was 17% contained by Saturday morning as crews were dousing mulch fires in agricultural land north of the 118 Freeway just a few miles east from the fire’s origin in the Somis neighborhood.

The fig and avocado trees were pruned a bit to provide as much sun as possible for the garden; a round steel trellis was installed on a walkway to support a thriving passion fruit vine; a guava hedge was cut back to create room for a blackberry patch and fruit trees such as white nectarine and pomegranate; and thick mulch was laid around the walkways to deter weeds.

The embers ignited everything in their path: trees, fences and the new plants and bark mulch Phil and Margaret had added just a few days before.

Almost all of the young plants and bark mulch the Hinches had added just a few days before the fire had to be replaced, but there were a few happy surprises.

To be more fire resistant, the Hinches also removed trees and wood bark mulch near the house and installed decomposed granite instead.