Bushfire landscaping: designing gardens for bushfire-prone areas
Before you do – or redo – any landscaping, please read some of the references below! For general information, we recommend the CFA’s Landscaping for bushfire garden design and plant selection (free download from the Web), the RFS’ Planning for bush fire protection (free download from the Web), Lesley Corbett’s Safer gardens: plant flammability & planning for fire (can be purchased as hardcopy or a $12 ebook) and Essential Bushfire Safety Tips by Joan Webster. For information on the suitability of specific native and exotic species, we have brought together information relevant to many species that grow in our region. See links in this folder to information on flammability of plants suitable for our region. In September 2025, links were added to a paper and summary on green firebreaks.
Contains lists of native plant species suitable for growing in our region, with information on their flammability. Also lists species that are not recommended.
Contains lists of exotic plant species suitable for growing in our region, with information on their flammability. Also lists species that are not recommended.
Presentation made to Murrumbateman Landcare Group 1 June 2023 (small revisions made).
Document on which the presentation was based. This document contains more information plus a large number of citations and references for further reading. Includes small revisions as at 19/6/2023.
This was developed by the Victorian CFA in response to Recommendation 44 from the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. It was first published in 2011; the most recent version is from 2022.
Note that Appendix 1 includes a methodology for calculating the size of an Asset Protection Zone.
Link is to the Amazon site where the ebook can be purchased for $11.99.
This covers a number of aspects of property protection from bushfires.
Climate change, increasing bushfire risk, and biodiversity loss are transforming our landscapes. New research is helping show how revegetation – done thoughtfully – can be part of the solution.
The authors prioritised optimal planting designs as the combination of elements (e.g., stem density, distance from houses, shrub design, age etc.) that delivered the greatest increase in biodiversity and carbon while reducing fire risk to people and property for eight sites across south-eastern Australia.