---
title: Fire-Resistant Plants: What the Term Means and Its Limits
url: https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/fire-resistant-plants/
business: Battle Born Tree Service
address: 6301 US Highway 50 East, Carson City, NV 89701
phone: 775.232.8243
hours: Office Monday-Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm; phones answered seven days a week; 24-hour emergency service
credentials: ISA Certified Arborist WE-11728A on staff; Nevada Business License # 20131580674; fully insured
type: Tree service (removal, crane work, pruning, stump grinding, defensible space, snow removal, firewood)
---

- [Home](https://battleborntreeservice.com/)
- [Arborist glossary](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/)
- Fire-resistant plants

# What is fire-resistant plants?

Fire-resistant plants are plants that are less likely to catch fire and feed it than others, usually because they hold more water, grow low and open, and shed little dead material. No plant is fireproof, and how a plant is kept matters as much as which plant it is.

## What makes a plant more resistant

Plants with moist, supple leaves, low resin content, open growth and little dead wood ignite less easily than dense, oily or dry ones. A well-watered lawn or a bed of low perennials burns less readily than a hedge of junipers full of dead needles. Even a resistant plant will burn if it is dry, dead or overgrown.

The University of Nevada, Reno Extension's Living With Fire guide includes plant guidance for each zone and names junipers among the high-fire-hazard plants to remove from Zone 0. See [junipers and other high-hazard plants](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/junipers-high-hazard-plants/).

## Why it matters in Northern Nevada

Our dry summers, hot winds and low rainfall mean that plants stress and dry out early. A resistant species planted against the wall and then left to go dry and woody is no longer resistant. Spacing, pruning out dead wood and keeping plants watered are what keep a landscape lean.

Trees count too. A tree near the house is a fuel as well as shade, and some species, such as pines and junipers, are more flammable than a deciduous shade tree.

## What an arborist does about it

Battle Born removes trees and shrubs that raise fire risk close to the house and prunes the ones that stay: lifting canopies, taking out dead wood and spacing crowns. We do not plant trees or design landscapes, so for a planting list use the Living With Fire guide or a local nursery. The arborist walks the zones with you and tells you what to take out. See [defensible space and fire mitigation](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/defensible-space-fire-mitigation/).

Because we do not design plantings, the arborist's job is the existing trees: thin them, lift them, and remove the ones that are too close or too flammable. For new plants, use the Extension guide's lists.

### Sources

- [University of Nevada, Reno Extension: Living With Fire (SP-23-07)](https://extension.unr.edu/publication.aspx?PubID=5522) (read October 17, 2026)
- [University of Nevada Cooperative Extension: Gardening Guide for High-Desert Urban Landscapes](https://naes.agnt.unr.edu/PMS/Pubs/2013-3170.pdf) (read October 17, 2026)

### Talk to the office

[775.232.8243](tel:775.232.8243)

| Monday to Friday | 8:30 am - 5:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Saturday and Sunday | Office closed, phones answered |

Phones answered seven days a week. 24-hour emergency service.

[Free estimate](#quote)

### Keep reading

- [Arborist glossary](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/)
- [Junipers and other high-hazard plants next to the house](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/junipers-high-hazard-plants/)
- [What is defensible space? Zones 0, 1 and 2](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/what-is-defensible-space/)
- [Defensible space and fire mitigation](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/defensible-space-fire-mitigation/)

## See also

[Home ignition zone](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/home-ignition-zone/) [Fuel load](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/fuel-load/)