FIREWISE Plant Choices Around Your Home

The CSU Extension Service and Colorado State Forest Service have plentiful resources for planning the best plant choices around your home for wildfire safety, including many native, low-water flowers and groundcovers.

While there are no truly “fireproof” plants, choosing plants with low flammability characteristics in Zone 1 (0-5 feet) and Zone 2 (5-30 feet) around your home can be part of your wildfire mitigation plan. Plant attributes that contribute to low flammability include low oil or resin content; high moisture content; soap, latex or pectin content; compact growth form; drought resistance; and green stems. Many native trees, like pine, fir, and spruce, are adapted to fire and are flammable. If you choose to keep these plants in your landscape, prune and thin them regularly, remove deadwood, and keep them 30 feet from your home.

Native, low-water flowers and groundcovers can be firewise, including common flowers like yarrow, aster, coreopsis, lupine, bluebell, ice plant, and many more. For a long list of suggested firewise flowers, groundcover, trees and shrubs, visit the Colorado State University Extension online.