Fire-Resistant Landscaping Tips to Protect Your Home from Wildfires

Learn from WFCA the top fire-resistant landscaping tips to protect your home from wildfires including fire resistant trees, mulch and defensible space.

As wildfires continue to expand around the country, preparation is an essential part of safeguarding homes and other property. One way to prepare your property for a potential wildfire is through the implementation of fire-resistant landscaping. This can include using a mix of fire-resistant plants, trees, and mulch, as well as hardscaping, to create defensible space that will slow the spread of flames and embers.

Create Defensible Space Around Your Home

Defensible space is an important factor in stopping or slowing the spread of wildfire. Studies have found that establishing 5-20 meters (16-65 feet) of defensible space increased the likelihood of surviving a wildfire significantly.¹ To create defensible space, homeowners need to focus on reducing available fuels and increasing distance between fuels around the home. This will help to prevent embers and flames from spreading to the home. Defensible space can be divided into three specific zones.

Zone 1 – Immediate Zone (0-5 feet from the home)

To create defensible space in Zone 1, homeowners can implement several measures:

• Replace combustible mulch with concrete, gravel, or paving stones.
• Trim any branches to keep them 10 feet away from stovepipes or chimneys.
• Clear debris from gutters, roofs, and surrounding surfaces.
• Use fire-resistant materials for gates and fencing.
• Move boats and other vehicles further away.
• Reduce the amount of combustible items on decks or patios, including furniture.
• Move recycling and garbage bins outside of the zone.²

Zone 2 – Intermediate Zone (5-30 feet from the home)

The following recommendations can be implemented in this zone:

• Remove dead leaves, plants, weeds, grass, and needles from the yard and any other surfaces.
• Trim trees to create a 10-foot space between them.
• Remove any flammable items or vegetation that may be underneath stairs, balconies, or decks.
• Trim plants and shrubs to create space between them and other flammable items.
• Move any wood piles outside of this zone.
• Create 10 feet of space around any outbuildings or propane tanks.²

Zone 3 – Extended Zone (30-100 feet from the home)

In this zone, homeowners can take the following steps to create defensible space:

• Create vertical and horizontal spacing between trees, bushes, and grass.
• Maintain grass at a height of no more than 4 inches.
• Clear out fallen leaves, small branches, and needles.
• Maintain a clear space of at least 10 feet around wood piles, propane tanks, and any outbuildings.²

Use Fire-Resistant Plants for Landscaping

Fire-resistant plants can protect a structure and surrounding property from the spread of wildfire. Plants with the following qualities are more prone to be fire-resistant:

• Leaves with high moisture content.
• Open, loose branching patterns.
• Root systems that are extensive.
• Lower levels of resins or volatile oils on the branches, stems, and leaves.³
• Minimal dead wood or material accumulation.
• Wide, flat, moist leaves.
• Waterlike sap without a strong odor.⁴
• Examples of fire-resistant plants include agave, yucca, bugleweed, red twig dogwood, coneflower, lavender, coreopsis, azalea, cotoneaster, hardy ice, penstemon, sedum, spurge, creeping phlox, and yarrow.³

Avoid plants that are highly flammable and may have the following characteristics:

• High amounts of dry or dead material such as leaves, needles, or twigs.
• Volatile oils, terpenes, or waxes on stems, twigs, or leaves.
• Leaves with a strong odor.
• Gummy, odorous sap.
• Papery or loose bark.⁴

Fire Resistant Trees to Consider

Fire-resistant trees can help to lower the combustible fuels on your property. Deciduous trees are more likely resist fire than evergreen trees such as pine trees or juniper trees, which have fine needles and high resin content. Native trees are encouraged as they are natural to the environment and require less water. When choosing trees don’t use trees with papery, peeling bark such as birch trees as this can increase flammability.^3,

Fire Resistant Mulch – What to Look for

Fire-resistant mulch is another way to reduce the vulnerability of your landscaping to fire. When choosing mulch, avoid combustible mulches such as wood chips, as they are a fire hazard. Non-combustible options for mulches include lava rock, stone, gravel, or decomposed granite. Composted wood chips can be used in smaller areas further from the home, such as in Zone 3, as they burn slower and lower than regular wood chips.⁵

Increase Fire-Resistance with Hardscaping

Utilizing materials in your landscaping that are non-combustible creates firebreaks among vegetation, which can prevent the spread of flames. There are many options available for homeowners who want to include hardscaping features in their landscaping:

• Patios made of concrete, pavers, or natural stone.
• Stone seating areas.
• Outdoor kitchens.
• Gravel or rock pathways and ground cover.
• Retaining walls made with stone, concrete, or brick.
• Water features such as fountains, ponds, or pools.⁶

Examples of Successful Fire-Resistant Landscaping

Fire-resistant landscaping has been effective at reducing the spread of wildfires. In recent years, multiple homes have been highlighted after surviving massive wildfires as a result of defensible space and home hardening techniques.

Following the 2023 Lahaina Fire, a home in Hawaii was dubbed the ‘miracle house’ after it survived the fire seemingly unaffected. The homeowner attributes this in part to the fire-resistant landscaping. They had taken out all of the vegetation adjacent to the house and replaced it with a stone buffer.The stone prevented the fire from reaching the house.⁷

After the 2025 Palisades Fire, a home in Southern California went viral, demonstrating an example of successful defensible space. The owner had created a border around the home free of anything flammable. He implemented fire-resistant landscaping with low-growing plants and gravel.⁸

In the 2017 Sonoma Complex Fires, a house in Northern California survived a wildfire in part due to hardscaping. The homeowner utilized concrete in the landscape around their house. This created a fire-resistant barrier and stopped the flames from spreading to the structure.⁹

Helpful Tips When Preparing for Wildfire Season

Creating defensible space and utilizing fire-resistant plants and materials in landscaping are some of the most effective ways that homeowners can prepare for wildfire season. In addition, homeowners can take the following steps:

• Sign up for any alerts that may be available from the local fire department, emergency management agency, local news stations, weather service, or other resources that will inform residents of wildfires in the area.
• Learn evacuation routes, if any have been established for your area.
• Make an emergency plan for any people or animals on your property, and communicate it to everyone in the household.
• Use fire-resistant materials to make any needed updates or renovations on your home.
• Gather emergency household supplies, including masks and first aid supplies.¹⁰
• Review any homeowners’ insurance policies to determine if they need to be updated to reflect any changes or adjust any coverages.
• Purchase specialized wildfire insurance policies or endorsements if coverage is not provided in your standard insurance policy.¹¹
• Keep copies of important documents in a safe location other than the home.