{"id":7169,"date":"2025-06-23T12:30:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T19:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/?p=7169"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:37:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:37:22","slug":"fire-resistant-landscaping-defensible-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/2025\/06\/23\/fire-resistant-landscaping-defensible-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire Resistant Landscaping: Defensible Spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Richard Miller, WSU Master Gardening<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating a landscape that is fire-resistant is something that we should all think about in our area, as wildfires, unfortunately, are common occurrences. In creating a fire-resistant landscape, there are several things to consider and do. The most important factor to consider is what is referred to as \u201cfuel\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fuel for wildfire includes both living and dead vegetation. The amount of fuel you have around your home and on your property will determine how easily wildfire will spread to your home. We cannot change the weather, and we cannot easily change our topography, but we can change our landscape to reduce fuel sources. This is called creating a \u201cdefensible space\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A defensible space is a 30-foot clearing around your home and other buildings on your property or a 100-foot clearing if you live in a high-risk area. To create this space, you must remove all debris (fire-hazard materials), dead trees, and shrubs. Trim trees at least 10 feet above the ground, and keep grass and plants green by watering on a regular basis. You can also choose fire-resistant plants and materials for your landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Choose fire-resistant plants that will grow well in your area. Keep in mind there are no \u201cfire-proof\u201d plants. The characteristics of fire-resistant plants are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Broad-leaf deciduous, but some thick-leaf evergreens are also fire resistant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plants with leaves that tend to be supple, moist, and easily crushed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trees that tend to be clean, not bushy, and have little or no dead wood.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shrubs that are low-growing with minimal dead material.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plants with water-like sap (tend to not have a strong odor).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples of these types of plants are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Mock Oranges, Currants, Oregon Grapes, and Pacific Rhododendrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hardwoods, such as Red Maple.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason you want to plant fire-resistant plants is to prevent or break up fuel ladders that can cause the fire to spread to your home and outer buildings. There are also other materials that you can use for landscaping that will create an effective firebreak, such as rock, mulch, stone walls, and roadways. You can create a beautiful fire-resistant landscape for your home, while protecting your home at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"615\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/extension\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2026\/05\/fire-resistant-landscaping.jpg.png\" alt=\"Fire resistant landscaping diagram.\" class=\"wp-image-7170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/extension\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2026\/05\/fire-resistant-landscaping.jpg.png 615w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/extension\/uploads\/sites\/74\/2026\/05\/fire-resistant-landscaping.jpg-396x297.png 396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 615px) 100vw, 615px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Image Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontlinewildfire.com\/defensible-space-landscaping\/\">Frontline Wildfire Defense<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Richard Miller, WSU Master Gardening Creating a landscape that is fire-resistant is something that we should all think about in our area, as wildfires, unfortunately, are common occurrences. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":329,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":[],"_external_link":"","_expiration_date":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[14,18,40,22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7171,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7169\/revisions\/7171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/ferry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}