Low flammability

Hot off the press is a new Colorado State University Extension/Colorado Forest Service Fact Sheet 6.305, titled Low-Flammability Landscape Plants, part of a Wildfire Mitigation Series, Landscaping and Planting. To begin to understand how to help yourself, this fact sheet gives you the basics of plant characteristics that create high flammability or low flammability in plants. Keep in mind that there are no fully fireproof plants. Low-flammability plants placed in the appropriate zone can help mitigate a fire around your home.

The low-flammability fact sheet covers plants in zones 1 at 0-5 feet and 2 at 5-30 feet. There is also a zone 3 at 30-100 feet, which is found in the Fire-Resistant Landscaping Fact Sheet. These zones are called defensible spaces. Defensible space is about increasing space, both horizontal and vertical, between plants and reducing plant volume. If you need a defensible space plan for your property, contact the Colorado State Forest Service field office or local CSU Extension office nearest you for advice.

We created this fact sheet with the highest degree of protection for structures. The recommendations on the plant list in the Low-Flammability Landscape Plants were based on the methodology developed by Idaho Firewise in Boise, Idaho. Plants are ranked on a scale from 0-10. Zero is most flammable and 10 is least flammable. For zones 1 and 2, which are closer to the house, we recommend only plants rated 8, 9 and 10.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.