Fire-Resilient Landscaping
Right Plant, Right Place
Choose low-flammability native plants
Texas Redbud, Autumn Sage, Purple Coneflower, Flame Acanthus
Avoid plants with high resin content like junipers and pines
Maintain vertical & horizontal spacing
Treat every plant as potential fuel for a wildfire. Allow enough separation between plants to prevent flames from spreading plant-to-plant, both horizontally and vertically.
Ladder Fuel Prevention
When left unmanaged, layers of foliage can intertwine and create a condition known as “ladder fuels”. “Ladder fuels” allow a fire to climb vertically from the ground up to the treetops.
- Keep lower tree branches pruned and your shrubs trimmed to allow for 6 to 10 feet of open space can help keep flames on the ground.
- Remove dense shrubs beneath trees.
- Burning trees and shrubs can easily have flames reaching 2x their height, so the taller your shrubs, the more space they need above them.