What TFS rates where

Texas A&M Forest Service does not print four climate tables. Firewise Landscaping in Texas: the landscape elements apply across Texas and at all scales. The first 30 feet is defensible space. Larger properties should take 200 feet. Fire resistant does not mean fireproof. There is no fireproof plant. Plants with resins, oils and volatiles should be kept away from the home. This directory retains ten exact genus owners from the placement-band examples and holds Primrose and Bluebells. Juniperus ashei remains candidate; Juniperus virginiana remains avoid.

You are in the Hill Country treating mountain cedar as a Texas-only rating, or in the Piney Woods treating loblolly as a different TFS table. The opened guide is one characteristic sheet. AgriLife Today (5 April 2024) is the Panhandle after the fires: grass, 20–30 foot flame lengths, the same 30-foot defensible space. Texas WUI code status is construction.

This is not a Texas doorway. Do not read Tasmania Fire Service as Texas A&M Forest Service.

Why it matters

“Four fire climates” is easy to hear as four TFS lists. The opened PDF is statewide. Oklahoma’s cedar page is E-988 and a missing table. This page is TFS’s 30-foot sheet plus this directory’s two juniper records. One verdict per juniper species. Zone 0 is still not a planting list. TFS’s checklist says 3 feet from the foundation; that is not Zone 0.

This site’s Texas plant evidence combines 636 occurrence records with ten exact statewide TFS owners, 56 Travis County regional owners, and 142 archived Sun City Texas community owners. These are source-owner counts, not interchangeable votes; the grains remain visibly separate.

How it works

What the opened TFS guide actually says:

• Right plant, right place. 30-foot defensible space. 200-foot ignition zone on larger lots. Works with neighbors on small lots.
• Adapted in part from UF IFAS / USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station WUI series.
• No fireproof plant. High moisture, watery stems. Resins, oils, volatiles away from the house. Low-growing, less dense, slower-growing preferred.
• 0–10 feet: low, green, healthy; rock or stone instead of mulch; keep shrubs small.
• 10–30 feet: watered short grass; remove ladder fuels; deciduous trees with broad leaves; islands with brick or stone edges; deciduous preferable to evergreens.
• 30–100 feet: more plants allowed; same principles; firewood and brush piles here or farther.
• Example acceptable plants (not an exclusive list): first 10 feet columbine, violet, primrose, phlox; 10–30 bluebells, bluebonnet, aster, gayfeather; 30+ lantana, beautyberry, butterfly bush, Turk’s cap.
• Checklist inside 30 feet: vegetation at least 3 feet from foundation, deck, porch, or siding; limbs 6 to 10 feet; rake leaves and pine needles.

What it does not print:

• A Hill Country / Panhandle / Piney Woods / coastal plant table.
• Juniperus ashei or “mountain cedar.”
• A per-species flammability grade.

This directory:

• tamfs-firewise-landscaping-in-texas is the statewide source. travis-county-agrilife-firewise and sun-city-tx-firewise-plant-guide-2015 are separately bounded regional sources. tfs-fire-resisting is Tasmania Fire Service. Do not join the acronyms.
• Juniperus ashei candidate, mid-scale, TX. Long et al. 2006 NIST whole-plant: moderate.
• Juniperus virginiana avoid, TX.
• Pinus taeda avoid, TX.
• Callicarpa americana (beautyberry) is named in TFS’s 30-feet-and-beyond column.

What AgriLife Today opened (5 April 2024):

• After Panhandle fires. Juan Rodriguez (TFS WUI, Amarillo): 30-foot defensible space. High Plains primary fuel is grass. Flame lengths 20–30 feet.
• Ethan Law (TFS, 26 Panhandle counties): resins, oils, volatiles away from the home; deciduous preferred. Named Panhandle trees: pecan, Texas redbud, Texas red oak.
• That is a regional example list on the same 30-foot rule, not a second TFS rating table.

See how to read a plant page.

The paths

What people mix up

• Four fire climates with four TFS lists.
• Panhandle grass flame lengths with a Hill Country cedar table.
• J. ashei candidate with J. virginiana avoid.
• Tasmania’s brochure with TAMFS.
• Texas WUI code with this landscape sheet.
• Beautyberry at 30+ feet as a five-foot planting.
• UF/SRS adaptation as a Florida-only rule.

How to check

1. Open the TFS PDF. Read across Texas. Search for “Ashe” and “juniper.”
2. Open AgriLife Today. Read grass and 20–30 feet.
3. Open Juniperus ashei and Juniperus virginiana.
4. Open Texas plant evidence. Compare the exact statewide TFS chip with the Travis County and Sun City regional chips.
5. Open one verdict per juniper species.
6. Do not plant in Zone 0.

Limits

This page quotes the opened TAMFS PDF (InDesign CS5 CreationDate 8 October 2012; tfsweb filename EDITED202012; reposted May 2024) and opened AgriLife Today HTML (5 April 2024). The ten statewide TAMFS owners come only from unambiguous placement examples; Primrose and Bluebells remain held. The 142-owner Sun City source is archived 2015 community evidence with unknown lineage, not current statewide guidance. J. ashei is candidate from NIST moderate, not from this TFS brochure. Zone 0 is not a planting list.

Related records

• Juniperus ashei
• Juniperus virginiana
• Texas plant evidence
• Texas WUI code status
• Crosstimbers and red flags
• Glossary: defensible space
• Glossary: Zone 0