Creating defensible space around your home does not mean you need to remove everything and leave only dirt. We encourage residents to engage in Firescaping. With three primary benefits like improving safety by reducing wildfire risk around homes, supporting environmental sustainability through native and drought-tolerant plants, and maintaining or enhancing aesthetic appeal with attractive, resilient landscape design. This is a proactive approach to wildfire prevention that can start at home. 

Firescaping starts with creating ember resistant zones with materials such as gravel mulch, stones and boulders, hardscape, stone retaining walls, patios, swimming pools or ponds, walkways and paths. These can be pre-existing focal points in your landscape. If a house has none of these options, consider swapping out the mulch next to the home with gravel or stones when the time comes to replace the gravel.

There are no “fire proof” plants, however some species are better choices than others. Focus on choosing plants that resist ignition and remove those that are prone to ignition. For more information on fire smart plants click here.

For more information on creating a Fire Smart Yard click here. 

To access the brochure with information on How to Create a Fire Smart Yard use this link How to Create a Fire Smart Yard 

To see examples of a Fire Smart Yard access the flip book here Fire Smart Yard: A Visual Guide.