Why rosemary is disputed

Rosemary is a conflict on this site. That is the point of the record, not a failure of the record. Grants Pass names rosemary among highly flammable plants and wants fire-prone plants off the wall, preferably not within 30 feet of the house. FIRESafe MARIN (May 2024) says rosemary is not a Firewise choice; if you keep it, more than 5 feet from the house. Those sentences do not average into a medium shrub.

You are holding a four-inch pot of Salvia rosmarinus in a nursery, smelling the oil, and asking whether it belongs against the house in Zone 0. Zone 0 is the first 5 feet. Marin’s opened tip already wants the plant outside that band. Grants Pass prefers 30 feet. This page does not put rosemary in Zone 0.

Why it matters

Embers land in foliage. Aromatic oil is a reason people plant rosemary next to the door. It is also the reason fire lists flag it. Fire-resistant does not mean noncombustible. A conflict is not a permit to plant against the siding, and it is not a ban on cooking with the herb.

How it works

Plant statuses on this site are computed. Evidence rows go in. src/lib/derive.ts comes out. Nobody hand-picks “mostly fine.” Independent lineages vote. A single lineage can classify with a limited-evidence label. Ties and live dissent stay on the page as conflict. Direct fire evidence is never silently outvoted by a longer list. See methodology.

The rosemary record currently computes as conflict. Open the plant page for every row, including rows this article does not re-quote. This page quotes two lists opened this session. It does not invent a third grade between them.

Grants Pass’s public Firewise page splits “fire-resistant plants” from “highly flammable plants.” Rosemary is in the second list, with ornamental juniper, Leyland cypress, Italian cypress, arborvitae, eucalyptus, and some ornamental grasses. The instruction is not to place fire-prone plants adjacent to structures, and preferably not within 30 feet of the house.

FIRESafe MARIN’s May 2024 yard tip is about this shrub in a high fire-risk yard. It is not a Firewise choice. Essential oils and resinous foliage can make it highly flammable, especially when dry and hot. Wind-blown embers can ignite it. If you keep it, more than 5 feet from the house, irrigated, and free of dead twiggy material.

Those two documents already disagree on the distance (30 feet versus more than 5 feet). They agree that the house wall is the wrong place.

The paths

1. Read the plant record. Every evidence row stays visible.
2. Read the local list the official or the Firewise site actually uses. Grants Pass is one Oregon example. Marin is one California example.
3. Do not plant it in Zone 0. See Zone 0.
4. If you keep an existing shrub, the opened Marin tip is irrigation plus dead-wood removal, and still outside 5 feet.

What people mix up

• Treating “conflict” as “the site could not decide, so plant it.”
• Treating “conflict” as a ban.
• Averaging 5 feet and 30 feet into 15 feet and calling that science.
• Putting rosemary in Zone 0 because it is a kitchen herb.
• Confusing fire-resistant foliage with a noncombustible wall.
• Counting every republished list as a new vote. Lineages vote once.

How to check

1. Open Salvia rosmarinus. Read the computed status and every evidence row.
2. Open Grants Pass if you are in that Oregon list world. Rosemary is in the highly flammable examples.
3. Open FIRESafe MARIN’s rosemary tip if you are in that California list world.
4. Ask what the local Firewise or defensible-space list actually names. This site does not replace that list.
5. Do not put the shrub in the first 5 feet.

Limits

This page quotes Grants Pass and FIRESafe MARIN. It does not re-open every row on the rosemary record. It does not decide a planting permit. It does not make the shrub fireproof if you prune it. Zone 0 is not a planting list.

Related records

• Salvia rosmarinus
• Zone 0
• Fire-resistant does not mean noncombustible
• Oregon defensible space checklist
• Methodology

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