United States / Build / Fire-resistant landscaping
Fire-resistant landscaping
Program and model
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The answer
Fire-resistant landscaping starts with the first five feet. IBHS Wildfire Prepared removes combustible groundcover within five feet of the house to bare mineral soil and permits noncombustible hardscape; California Safer from Wildfires credits the same five-foot zone, fencing included; and CAL FIRE's guidance puts gravel, pavers and stone there, not bark or wood chips. Farther out, in Zone 1 and Zone 2, the plant directory rates each species by the balance of published evidence: fire-resistant, keep-away, and conflicts shown in full.
- Voluntary program IBHS 0–5 foot hardscape
For national landscaping, the national landscaping requirement is IBHS 0–5 foot hardscape. On national landscaping, it is shown as voluntary program. Read the national landscaping rule, then compare 1 matched national landscaping product.
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The rule
Voluntary program “Noncombustible hardscape materials”
Products matching the voluntary program
Questions
What is firewise landscaping?
Firewise USA is NFPA's recognition program for communities, not a plant list or a Zone 0 specification. The state Firewise plant lists this site cites as evidence are extension and agency publications; landscaping to the IBHS or CAL FIRE five-foot rule is a separate, property-level step.
How to fireproof your yard?
No yard is fireproof. The sourced steps are a noncombustible first five feet, no bark or wood mulch in that band, a noncombustible fence section where it meets the house, and plants farther out chosen from the published lists with their disagreements read rather than averaged.
Can I plant firewise shrubs against the house?
Not in Zone 0. IBHS and CAL FIRE treat the first five feet as an ember-resistant zone. Keep it largely noncombustible. Use the plant directory for Zone 1 and Zone 2, farther from the wall.
Is California Zone 0 already the law?
The Board of Forestry voted on statewide Zone 0 rules on 19 August 2026. That vote was not yet in force as of this verification. IBHS and California Safer from Wildfires already credit a 0–5 foot noncombustible zone.
What do I put on the ground?
Gravel, decomposed granite, pavers, concrete, or stone. Not bark, wood chips, gorilla hair, rubber mulch, or a bed of needles. Oregon’s State Fire Marshal tells homeowners to use river rock, gravel, or pavers in the five-foot buffer.
What about the fence that hits the house?
A combustible fence can carry fire into the wall. IBHS Essential and California Safer from Wildfires treat fences and gates in the first five feet as part of the noncombustible zone. CAL FIRE’s home-hardening page says replace attached combustible fencing or gates for the first 8 feet. Oregon’s State Fire Marshal tells homeowners to use metal gates for fence sections within 5 feet of the house. Cite the document you are scoring. This page is not a fence catalog.
What do the plant records mean?
Statuses are computed from published evidence by a public rule, never hand-assigned. Fire-resistant means the balance of independent primary evidence recommends the plant; keep-away means it condemns it; genuine disagreements are published as conflicts, never averaged. Names with no directional primary verdict yet wait in the catalog as awaiting evidence. None of them belong in Zone 0.
Does gravel need an OSFM listing?
No. Gravel, decomposed granite, pavers, and stone are material classes. They do not get California OSFM listing IDs. Absence from the handbook is not a ban. Presence is not a permit.