Home / Plants / Grow / Juniper

Juniper

Juniperus spp. (accepted: Juniperus) · Cupressaceae · all Juniperus records · also called Ornamental juniper

Your local evidence lens

Separate evidence questions, never one approval badge

Set a ZIP to compare this record with state distribution, native range, USDA hardiness, and invasive records.

A genus split is not a placement verdict. Set a ZIP to read the local documented split.

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Highly flammable — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: No test or rating condition is normalized.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 12 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Alabama; Alaska; Ashland, Oregon; Eastern Nebraska; Florida; Georgetown, Texas; Greece; Marin County, California; OR; OR/WA/ID; Oklahoma; South Carolina; Southeast US; Utah; Western South Dakota; Yavapai County, Arizona
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

Typed publication scope: 11 scopes across 11 cited fire sources

Protect Your Home from Wildfire — Fire Resistant Vegetation and Landscaping · Official scoped edition
- AK; partial normalized coverage · 2005-04-27
  Alaska Division of Forestry opens with the wildfire threat to Alaskans and publishes Alaska firewise-landscape examples. FireApproved publishes 58 exact source owners from its 60 taxon entries and holds the taxon-free fern label. State publication scope does not establish suitability for every Alaska climate, site, or home-ignition-zone placement.
Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes · Official scoped edition
- AL; partial normalized coverage
  The Alabama Forestry Commission's five-page AFC-FP-04 booklet is an Alabama publication and contains 31 printed suggested or fire-prone plant occurrences. FireApproved publishes 27 exact species or genus owners and holds one infraspecific form plus two named cultivars; this historical source scope does not establish current site suitability for a particular Alabama property.
Prohibited Flammable Plants (Ashland Municipal Code 9.04) · Official scoped edition
- City of Ashland (OR footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-26
  This is a City of Ashland adoption fact, not statewide Oregon guidance or an experimental flammability result. FireApproved publishes 24 taxonomy-safe owners as city-level regulatory context. It applies to new planting and propagation within 30 feet of structures, including structures on adjacent lots; it is not projected as a blanket removal order for every established listed plant.
Fire-Resistant Plants Common to Marin County · Official scoped edition
- Marin County (CA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2019-01-01
  The publication is explicitly limited to plants common to Marin County. FireApproved publishes 104 exact owners as Marin regional context while retaining its placement, spacing, irrigation, and maintenance boundary. It is not statewide California guidance or parcel suitability.
Living With Fire — A Homeowner's Guide, Eastern Nebraska Edition · Official scoped edition
- Eastern Nebraska (NE footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2011-01-01
  Nebraska Forest Service labels this the Eastern Nebraska Edition. FireApproved publishes the two exact taxon-resolvable owners from its direct avoid sentence as eastern Nebraska context. Arborvitae and other ambiguous common names remain held; Western Nebraska is not inferred.
Firewise Plantings Can Help Protect Property · Official scoped edition
- OK; partial normalized coverage · 2022-08-28
  Oklahoma State University Extension frames the article around statewide Oklahoma heat, drought, wildfire, and plant selection and publishes five unambiguous genus owners. Ambiguous common names remain excluded, and the prose examples do not establish suitability for every Oklahoma site.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PNW 590) · Official scoped edition
- ID, OR, WA; partial normalized coverage · 2023-10-01
  The October 2023 joint Pacific Northwest Extension publication explicitly names Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and publishes more than 150 plant profiles. FireApproved has normalized 155 exact plant records from the source; publication scope does not assert that every listed plant suits every site within the three states.
Landscaping Can Be Attractive & FIREWISE (Fire Smart Plant List for SC) · Official scoped edition
- SC; partial normalized coverage
  South Carolina Forestry Commission publishes this explicitly as its Fire Smart Plant List for South Carolina. FireApproved publishes 63 exact genus owners from 72 unique common-name labels; unsafe common-name mappings and duplicates are not broadened. The brochure calls the list non-inclusive and does not establish species-level or site-specific suitability.
Protecting Your Home and Landscape Against Wildfires · Official scoped edition
- Western South Dakota, Black Hills (SD footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2026-04-08
  The current SDSU Extension page explicitly addresses western South Dakota, particularly the Black Hills. FireApproved publishes its four exact genus owners. This is current bounded regional context, not statewide South Dakota coverage or a finding that every member of a genus behaves alike.
Firewise Plant Guide · Official scoped edition
- Sun City Texas, Georgetown (TX footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-14
  The guide is authored for the Sun City Texas community in Georgetown. FireApproved publishes 142 exact owners only as community-level context. It is an archived HOA exhibit with unknown rating lineage, not a current statewide Texas source or an independent Tier 1 determination.
Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) · Official scoped edition
- Yavapai County (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2025-03-14
  University of Arizona Cooperative Extension authors Bulletin 34 for Yavapai County. FireApproved publishes 198 exact source owners from its resistant and prone tables and keeps the county boundary visible. County publication scope is regional Arizona context, never statewide scope.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in ID, OR, WA.
Native range: No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established: No introduced or established row is normalized; that does not prove native status.
USDA hardiness: No hardiness value is normalized.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status: Set a location for an exact legal-list result; source silence is not clearance.
Seed-list status: Set a location to compare the separate state noxious-weed seed layer.
Reported invasive here: No ecological invasive report is normalized; that does not prove noninvasiveness.
Broader regional context: Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context: Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Juniper (Juniperus spp.) — Photo: (c) Michael J. Papay, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: shrub
Grows in: ID, OR, WA
Rated in: Alabama; Alaska; Ashland, Oregon; Eastern Nebraska +12
Family: Cupressaceae
Evidence: 16 cited sources

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Prohibited Flammable Plants: new planting or propagation restricted within 30 ft of any structure [Ashland Municipal Code setback] (with its avoid rating)
Firewise Plantings Can Help Protect Property: do not plant near a home or other structure [okstate-near-structures] (with its avoid rating)
Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting and Maint…: avoid in defensible space around homes in high wildfire-risk areas [ufifas-fr147-defensible-space] (with its avoid rating)
Landscaping in Florida with Fire in Mind: within 30 feet of the home [ufifas-for71-defensible-space] (with its avoid rating)
Firewise Landscaping for Utah: PLANTS TO AVOID (PDF page 15) [ffsl-2007-section] (with its avoid rating)
Landscaping Can Be Attractive & FIREWISE: SHRUBS; TREES [SCFC Fire Smart plant-form sections] (with its avoid rating)
Protect Your Home from Wildfire: Characteristics of plants that ignite and burn readily [Alaska DNR brochure sections] (with its avoid rating)
Firewise Plant Guide: Avoid if Possible [Sun City plant-table sections] (with its avoid rating)
Living With Fire: Lean, Clean and Green Area Tips (PDF page 11) [Nebraska defensible-space zones] (with its avoid rating)
Protecting Your Home and Landscape Against Wildfires: Intermediate Zone [Home Ignition Zone] (with its avoid rating)
Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes: Suggested shrubs [Alabama Forestry Commission booklet section] (with its recommendation)
Κανονισμός Πυροπροστασίας Ακινήτων εντός ή πλησίον δασικώ…: section 5.4.2, Table 2δi [greece-2023-particularly-flammable] (with its avoid rating)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Avoids (15)

Fire-Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PNW 590) — OSU + WSU + University of Idaho Extension (joint PNW series) · 2023 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: pnw590-tree

“listed highly flammable”
Fire-Resistant vs. Highly Flammable Plants — City of Grants Pass · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: pnw590-tree

“listed highly flammable”
Prohibited Flammable Plants (Ashland Municipal Code 9.04) — City of Ashland, Oregon (Fire & Rescue / Weed Abatement) · 2025 · original source Primary evidence Regulation lineage: pnw590-tree

“prohibited flammable plant” · original source

The City of Ashland restricts new planting or propagation within 30 ft of any structure, including structures on adjacent lots (AMC 9.04).
Fire-Resistant Plants Common to Marin County — Fire Safe Marin · 2019 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: partially-independent

“listed as fire-prone”

Fire Safe Marin lists this taxon among common fire-prone plants in Marin County.
Firewise Plantings Can Help Protect Property — Oklahoma State University Extension · Grow column 2022-08-28 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: okstate-grow-2022

“contain oils and resins that are highly flammable”

The source says not to plant these taxa near a home or other structure.
Fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface: Selecting and Maintaining Firewise Plants for Landscaping — UF/IFAS Extension (Doran, Fill, Crandall, Randall, Long) · 2023 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“usually highly flammable”

The source identifies small needle-like leaves, resins, and retained dead branches as characteristics that increase flammability.
Landscaping in Florida with Fire in Mind — University of Florida IFAS Extension and Florida Division of Forestry · FOR 71 / EDIS FR076 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“Remove flammable plants”

The source says to remove red cedar within 30 feet of the home because the plants contain resins, oils, and waxes that burn readily. This record preserves only the exact genus-level identity supported by that label.
Firewise Landscaping for Utah (2007) — Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands / Utah State University Extension Forestry · August 2007 · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: usu-kuhns

“Do not plant these species in your firewise landscape, especially in Zone 2, or use them sparingly.”

The source identifies juniper among common tree pyrophytes in Utah landscapes.
Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) — University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County · v1.2 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: unknown

“Fire-Prone Plants”

Listed as Juniper — Juniperus sp.. The bulletin says fire-resistant plants tend to resist ignition when irrigated and maintained, while fire-prone plants may ignite readily and burn intensely.
Landscaping Can Be Attractive & FIREWISE (Fire Smart Plant List for SC) — South Carolina Forestry Commission · 2005 brochure · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: unknown

“HIGHLY Flammable Plants (Plants that will ignite faster and burn readily)”

Listed as Junipers; Eastern red cedar. The source says highly flammable plants ignite faster and burn readily; less flammable plants have some fire resistance.
Protect Your Home from Wildfire — Fire Resistant Vegetation and Landscaping — Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Community Forestry Program · April 2005 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: unknown

“Characteristics of plants that ignite and burn readily”

Named as a resinous plant example: juniper — Juniperus.
Firewise Plant Guide — Sun City Texas Firewise Group · updated January 14, 2015 · original source Corroboration HOA exhibit lineage: unknown

“very high”

The table rates Juniper (Cedar), all columnar evergreens — various species very high for flammability hazard, defined as the ease a plant can burn at high temperatures for a prolonged time.
Living With Fire — A Homeowner's Guide, Eastern Nebraska Edition — Nebraska Forest Service · Eastern Nebraska edition · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: unr-tree

“Avoid juniper, mugo pine and arborvitae.”

The Lean, Clean and Green Area tips explicitly say to avoid juniper.
Protecting Your Home and Landscape Against Wildfires — South Dakota State University Extension · updated April 8, 2026 · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: unknown

“Common flammable trees include junipers, pines, firs and spruces.”

The page names junipers among common flammable trees and discourages conifers in the immediate and intermediate zones.
Κανονισμός Πυροπροστασίας Ακινήτων εντός ή πλησίον δασικών εκτάσεων — Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy · FEK B 3475/2023 · original source Corroboration Regulation

“ΙΔΙΑΙΤΕΡΑ ΕΥΦΛΕΚΤΑ ΕΝΔΗΜΙΚΑ ΦΥΤΑ — Juniperus sp.”

The regulation prints this taxon in its table of particularly flammable endemic trees and shrubs.

Fire-resistant shrubs instead

Kinnikinnick
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Red-osier dogwood
Cornus sericea

Hardy shrub rose
Rosa

Snowberry
Symphoricarpos albus

Creeping holly
Berberis repens

Shrubby cinquefoil
Dasiphora fruticosa

Fire-resistant shrubs listed above

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · ITIS

Juniperus spp. (Juniper, Ornamental juniper). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/juniperus/. Last verified 2026-08-23.