Fire-Smart Landscaping: Stop Fire from Reaching Your Home

A fire-smart yard can

slow wildfire,

reduce ember ignition, and

give your home a better chance to survive.

The goal is simple:

break up fuels,

keep plants trimmed and healthy, and

keep the first 5 feet next to your home clear of anything that can burn.

 

 

Why Landscaping Matters

Key Figures to Know:

• Embers can travel over a mile ahead of a wildfire.
• Wind-blown embers are the biggest danger to homes.
• The first 5 feet around a house is the most critical area.
• Fire can spread when plants, mulch, and debris touch or form long lines.
• Smart yard design can slow fire and help firefighters protect houses.

Use Hardscaping to Break Up Plants

What is Hardscaping?

• Use of gravel, brick, stones or dirt that won't burn.
• Create small groups of plants with rock paths, stone patios, walkways, or walls between them.
• These hard surfaces do not burn and help slow fire.
• Fire can't move across your yard as easily.

Keeping Space Between Plants:

• Keep plants several feet apart, not touching.
• Trim tree branches 6–10 feet above the ground (as appropriate for the tree), so fire cannot climb up.
• Do not plant long rows or thick groups of shrubs, trees, or groundcover.
• Leave plenty of space between trees and shrubs
• Space plants more on steep slopes and in windy areas.

Keep Plants Healthy, Trimmed and Away from Your House

• Mow grass and thin crowded bushes.
• Keep branches about 10 feet away from roofs and chimneys.
• Water plants so they stay green and healthy. They can still burn but are less likely to catch fire as easily or right away.
• Remove dead leaves, needles, and branches often.

Mulch Matters — Most Types Burn

• Keep all flammable mulch away from the first 5 feet around your home.
• Use rock, gravel, or decomposed granite near your home instead. These materials do not burn and help stop fire from spreading.
• Wood chips, bark, and pine needles can catch fire easily. Do not put these near buildings, decks, or fences.

Design for Safety, Not Bare Ground

• You do not have to remove every plant.
• Focus on spacing, trimming, and breaking up fuel paths.
• Mix plants with stone and other fire-resistant materials.
• Keep up yard work all year so your home stays wildfire-ready.

Are there Some Plants that Are Better than Others?

• All plants can burn, even well watered ones. The heat from fire will dry out even the most well watered plant until it readily catches fire.
• Some plants burn more easily and hotter and should be avoided. Juniper, cedar, rosemary or any plant with fragrant smelling foliage has highly flammable oils.
• Native plants are often more drought tolerant and can survive fires but they still burn. They are a good choice for many reasons such drought tolerance and native pollinators.
• The best plants to have closest to your homes are succulents. They have a lot of water in the leaves. They are usually small. When they burn, they smolder or melt more than burn with flames.
• Non-native invasive plants and weeds, like starthistle, scotchbroom, and barb goat grass are especially flammable. Eliminate them whenever possible.
• The best advice is to keep plants well spaced, trimmed and clean and away from the house.

Reliable Sources

Fire-Smart Landscaping CAL FIRE

Safe Landscapes in the Wildland-Urban Interface UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Tree Care Information from International Society of Arboriculture

Creating a Fire Resilient Landscape  UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Select Tree: A Tree Selection Guide CAL Poly

Invasive Weeds Awareness – California Native Plant Society