With millions of acres burned each year in California, you may wonder how California is not a scorched desert with no plants.

What You Need To Know

  • California has many fire-resistant plants

  • These plants are moist and accumulate less dead material

  • You can build a fire-resistant landscape in your backyard

Even though wildfires burn many plants each year in California, many survive and thrive.

The characteristics that make these plants fire-resistant include:

  • Moist leaves
  • Water-like and little sap
  • Carry little dead wood and do not accumulate dry and dead material within the plant

These plants are not fireproof, so fires can still kill them. However, their foliage and stems do not contribute to the fuel and intensity of the fire.

They are also very important for the environment in other ways. They help reduce topsoil loss and erosion caused by rain after a fire.

Make your yard fire-resistant

Maybe it’s time to spruce up your front and back yards.

Consider some of these fire-resistant plants, shrubs and trees to protect your home. Some of them are also tolerant to droughts, so you’ll save on the water bill in the long run.

  • Cooking Sage
  • Coneflower
  • Daylily
  • Poppy
  • Wooly Thyme
  • Hens and Chicks
  • Lilac
  • Russian Sage
  • Waxflower
  • Black oak
  • Crabapple
  • Maple
  • Poplar
  • River Birch

Prune your trees to remove deadwood and lower hanging branches, and the lowest branches should stay no less than 8-10 feet away from your roof or chimney.

Remember to always clean up ground litter, including dead leaves, around your home.

Also, stick to the 30-foot rule. Remove highly flammable plants within 30 feet of your home, and stack firewood at least 30 feet away from your home.