Fire-resistant landscaping uses plants that are strategically planted to resist the spread of fire to your home. Fire resistant plants work well in California because they are often drought tolerant too.

Choose Fire-Resistant Plants and Materials

• Cover bare spaces with ground cover plants. Use rock, mulch, flower beds, and gardens as ground cover for bare spaces and as effective firebreaks. Select high-moisture plants that grow close to the ground and have low sap or resin content.
• Select fire-resistant shrubs. Examples include hedging roses, bush honeysuckles, currant, cotoneaster, sumac, and shrub apples.
• Opt for less flammable trees. Plant hardwood, maple, poplar and cherry trees that are less flammable than pine, fir, and other conifers.
• Choose fire-retardant plant species. Plants like rockrose, ice plant, and aloe help resist ignition.
• Create fire-resistant zones with other materials. Use stone walls, patios, decks and roadways to create barriers around your home.

FIRE-RESISTANT PLANTs

Below are examples of common fire-resistant plants. Many of these plants can be found at your local nursery or home improvement store.

• French Lavender: a fire-resistant plant that thrives in dry growing conditions and will add beauty to your defensible space landscape.
• Red Monkey Flower: a fire-resistant plant that yields beautiful, bright red blossoms. This evergreen shrub is also drought tolerant.
• California Fuchsia: a deer-resistant plant that has bright, orange-red funnel-shaped flowers. It's also fire safe and needs little water.
• Sage: a low-maintenance plant that's fire resistant and drought tolerant. When sage is in bloom, it can also attract a lot of pollinators.
• California Lilac: a colorful shrub that's drought tolerant and is covered with small pink and purple flowers when in bloom.
• Society Garlic: this common landscape plant is a smart choice because it's fire safe and grows in drought-prone regions.
• Ornamental Strawberry: this is a great ground cover plant. This fire-resistant plant can be used to give a lush look to your landscape.
• Yellow Ice Plant: this is a low-growing ground cover with succulent, green foliage. It requires very little watering and is fire safe.
• Coreopsis Plant: this plant is tolerant to a wide variety of soil types and it's fire safe, making it the perfect addition to your landscape.
• California Redbud: this colorful shrub is fire resistant, drought tolerant, and covered with small pink and purple flowers when in bloom.