FIRE-RESISTANT LANDSCAPING 

During a wildfire everything on your property has the potential to become fuel. 
​Fire-resistant landscaping can yield many-fold return of beauty and enjoyment, while helping protect your home from wildfire.  

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0-5 FEET 'NON-COMBUSTIBLE' ZONE

The first 5 feet outward from a foundation wall or deck is one of the most critical parts of your landscaping for home survivability 

• Create a non-combustible 5 foot border around your home
• Replace flammable mulch with gravel or rock
• No trees or shrubs in this area
• Remove all pine needles, dried leaves and plants

5 - 10 FEET FROM HOME

MULCH

• Non-combustible Mulch

GRASS & GROUND COVER 

• Well maintained and irrigated grass - cut to 4" or less 
• Succulents
• Annuals
• Perennial ground covers
• Perennial flower beds 

SHRUBS (use sparingly) 

• Ninebark Varieties
• Bog Birch
• Rabbit Brush
• Dogwood Varieties
• Cotoneaster
• Wax Flower
• Cinquefoil
• Sand Cherry
• Antelope Bitterbrush
• Currant Variaties
• Rose Species
• Spirea Varieties
• Snowberry
• Lilacs 

TREES

• None Recommended 

10-30 FEET FROM HOME 

MULCH

• Non-combustible Mulch
• Screened wood chips or other large organic mulch 

GRASS & GROUND COVER

• Native grass cut to 4" or less after grass has seeded
• Succulents and Iceplant species
• Annuals
• Perennial flowers and ground covers
• Purple or Prairie Coneflower
• Nodding Onion
• Snow-in-Summer
• Creeping Thyme
• Yarrow
• Aster varieties
• Columbine varieties
• Geranium varieties
• Basket-of-Gold
• Sage varieties
• Mariposa Lily
• Delphinium
• Blanket flower
• Sunflowers
• Coral bells
• Iris variaties
• Lavender varieties
• Lupine varieties
• Poppy
• Bee Balm
• Primrose
  
  

SHRUBS - all shrubs listed above, plus following 

• Kinnikinnick
• Adams Needle
• Highbrush Cranberry
• Russet
• Golden Currant
• Little Leaf Mock Orange
• Creeping Grape Holly
• Tatarian Honeysuckle
• Apache Plum
• Heath
• Burkwood Daphe
• Mahogany Varieties
• Manzanita Varieties
• Boulder Raspberry 

DECIDUOUS TREES  
Use sparingly between 10' and 30' from your home

• Maple Varieties
• Thinleaf Alder
• River Birch
• Hawthorn Varieties
• Flowering Crabapple
• Flowering Plum
• Lanceleaf Cottonwood
• Narrowleaf Cottonwood
• Quaking Aspen
• Mountain Ash
• Serviceberry Varieties
• Mountain Mahogany
• Filbert
• Green Ash
• Honeylocust
• Western Chokecherry
• Peachleaf Willow
• Silver Buffaloberry

CONIFER TREES
 No Conifer Trees within 10 Feet of Your Home 

Guidelines on Use of Conifer Trees

• Remove Ladder Fuel Under Conifer Trees -- ladder fuels are small trees and brush which allow a fire to burn from ground level up into the branches of a larger tree.   
• Limb Up Conifers -- prune all tree branches from ground level up to a height of 10' above ground or up to 1/3 the height of the tree, whichever is less.   
• Crowns Should Be Spaced at Least 10' Apart 

Recommended Conifer Trees

• White Fir
• Ponderosa Pine
• Engleman Spruce
• Colorado Blue Spruce
• Bristlecone Pine
• Lodgepole Pine
• Limber Pine
• Rocky Mountain Douglas-Fir 

OVER 30 FEET FROM HOME 

​You can use all the plants identified above with greater density, but you need to maintain a minimum of 10' crown spacing for Conifers.  

Learn More in this CSU Extension Video on
​Fire Resistant Landscaping 

FLAMMABLE PLANTS TO AVOID

Avoid planting fire-prone plants because they can accelerate the spread of wildfire.  Plants are considered fire-prone because of dead materials which accumulate in and around them, their high oil or resin content and the low moisture content of their leaves and branches.  
 
FIRE-PRONE TREES

• Arborvitae
• Austrian Pine
• Cedar
• Douglas Fir
• Gambel Oak
• Pinyon Pine
• Scotch Pine
• Scrub Oak

 
FIRE-PRONE GRASSES, SHRUBS AND GROUND COVERS  

• Cheatgrass
• Buckbrush
• Fitzer
• French Broom
• Juniper
• Pampas Grass
• Scotch Broom
• Spanish Broom 

 
All plants are flammable under extreme wildfire conditions.   Appropriate plant spacing, pruning and watering can increase a plant’s resistance to wildfire.    

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Colorado State Forestry Guide
to Fire-Wise Plant Materials 

Download Now

Eliminate Ladder Fuels 

A wildfire is easier if it remains on the ground.   When a surface fire ignites, small trees and shrubs under larger trees can create a ladder for fire to spread into the upper branches of a large tree.  Wildfires that are carried in tops of large trees are referred to as crown fires and are much harder to contain.    To help interrupt the spread of wildfire, eliminate small trees or shrubs that are located underneath larger trees.  ​

Conifer Crown Spacing: 
 Maintain at least 10' or more if your
​on a slope

The crown of a tree is the widest area of a tree.      To help slow the spread of wildfire, it's critical to have enough spacing between trees to reduce the threat of crown fires.    Experts recommend a spacing of a minimum of 10' between the widest part of trees.   If you live on a slope,  the suggested spacing can be 20' or more.    ​

Limb Up Your Conifers 

Prune all tree branches from ground level up to a height of 10' above ground or up to 1/3 the height of the tree, whichever is less.