Watch: Native Landscaping Author Greg Rubin on Fire-Resistant Landscaping

Sunday, July 27, 2025

7pm Via Zoom

Stream the recording below.

For our July Zoom call, we were joined by fire-resistant landscaping expert and best-selling author Greg Rubin. In conversation with LA Climate Reality’s Andy Hattala, Greg discussed how proper landscaping, rather than the removal of vegetation, can reduce the spread of urban wildfires. “Preserving the health and hydration of your native landscape may be the best thing you can do for fire,” Greg said. “It’s almost the exact opposite of what people think.”

Greg Rubin is the president & founder of California’s Own Native Landscape Design, Inc., and is a licensed design/build contractor who has designed over 800 residential, commercial, and institutional native landscapes in Southern California. He has authored (with Lucy Warren) two bestselling books on native landscaping, including The Drought-Defying California Garden and was named the 2018 Horticulturist of the Year by the San Diego Horticultural Society.

Greg is a former aerospace engineer who kept his scientific mindset when he switched careers. In the meeting, Greg discussed a 4-year research project he conducted on fire-resistant native landscaping for the US Navy. The data and modeling from the study demonstrated that surrounding their naval housing communities with green belts of lightly irrigated native plants would have the lowest rate of fire spread.

Greg argues that the conventional wisdom after the 2025 Los Angeles firestorm, to remove all vegetation in Zone Zero (the first five feet around structures) is difficult for existing homes, and is overly simplistic and unnecessary.

Wildfire-resistant landscaping expert and best-selling author Greg Rubin will be our July 2025 chapter guest.

Removing dry fuel such as wood fences is important, but Greg says, with wind-driven fires, it is necessary to take the dynamics of wind into account, and a mix of healthy plants of different sizes can stop embers from reaching the house.

Greg shared examples from landscapes he has discussed a recent op-ed in the LA Times by Max Moritz and Luca Carmignani that shares his belief that well-hydrated vegetation can save houses in a wind-driven fire.

Native plants are ideal, Greg says, because they can be well-hydrated with less water and protect biodiversity.

Watch the recording of the interview below.

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