Bushfire and Garden Plants
A guide to flammable garden plants
We’ve developed a guide to help people design and create more bushfire resilient gardens by understanding the flammability of common garden plants grown in the Hobart region.
It is particularly useful for those living in bushfire prone areas.
The guide can be picked up from your local Council Customer Service Centre and from selected nurseries and garden centres across Greater Hobart.
You can also use the digital version below.
Researchers at the UTAS Fire Centre put more than a hundred common garden plants through their fire lab, testing each one for how easily it burns, how hot it burns, how long it burns and how much of the plant burns.
The results have been categorised for trees, ferns, herbs, shrubs and succulents.
The flammability rating for each species ranges from low to very high.
Wildlife gardens and living with fire
Many people love the native plants they have in their garden and the fact they provide valuable habitat for wildlife. Good garden design allows us to create gardens that provide food and shelter for native wildlife while helping us minimise bushfire risk.
While all plants can burn under the right conditions, some are less flammable than others. This guide provides a quick reference for considering lower flammability options when designing your garden and minimising fire risk. Incorporating a variety of native plants can create a more resilient ecosystem, attracting beneficial birds, insects and wildlife and enhancing the overall health of your garden.
If your garden features highly flammable plants, consider spacing them out and keeping them at a safe distance from your home. By combining fire-safe practices with biodiversity-friendly choices, you can create a beautiful and resilient garden.
Sparking Conversations and the Fire Centre
Sparking Conversations, Igniting Action was a community bushfire resilience project working across greater Hobart to help communities better prepare for and build resilience to bushfire.
The Fire Centre is a bushfire research hub based at the University of Tasmania that brings together researchers, fire practitioners, land management agencies, communities and individual landowners, providing research platforms and resources to problem solve and empower our coexistence with bushfire.
Sparking Conversations and the Fire Centre teamed up to provide residents of greater Hobart and beyond evidence-based information about the flammability of common garden plants. This is to help inform better garden design, particularly for residents living in bushfire prone areas.
How we measured plant flammability
Researchers at the University of Tasmania tested hundreds of plant samples from gardens across greater Hobart, burning them under controlled conditions at the University’s FireLab.
Each plant sample was measured by:
How easily the plant burnt
How hot the plant burnt
How long the plant burnt
How much of the plant was burnt
These four measures were then combined to determine the overall flammability of each plant.
As research at the Fire Centre progresses, further species will be added to provide more low flammability options.
DISCLAIMER: Even low-flammability plants can burn under the right conditions.