Fire Wise Garden
Proudly serving the tri-county area since 1984 to promote wildfire risk awareness, mitigation, and community safety.
What is a Fire Wise Garden?
TCFSWG is proud to offer a free public Firewise Demonstration Garden, the first of its kind in the area. The garden is located at the Montana City Volunteer Fire Station #1, and hosts over 150 species of fire-wise plants as well as a pavilion built from ignition-resistant construction materials. The garden demonstrates how you can use locally adapted vegetation to lower your wildfire risk and increase the beauty of your landscaping. Fire wise practices include the use of construction materials, landscape design, and fire wise plant selection to lower wildfire risk. Less flammable vegetation can create attractive landscaping and inspire property owners.
Firescaping is a landscaping technique focused on reducing wildfire risk around homes and other structures. It involves strategic plant selection, placement, and the use of fire-resistant materials to create defensible spaces and minimize the potential for fire spread. Core principles include: Firewise Plant Selection Creating Defensible Space Performing Regular Maintenance.
Firewise Plants are less susceptible to ignition and slower to burn because they are high in moisture, soap (saponins), pectin, and/or latex content; small in size; have minimal amounts of volatile oils and resins; and usually can withstand some amount of drought. These plants help create a fire-resistant landscape within the home ignition zone. Many are also deer resistant!
Become a Friend of the Garden
Maintenance of the garden is made possible by our generous partners and volunteers! If you are interested in contributing to the maintenance and upkeep of the garden, or to come out and tend the garden with us, please reach out and become a friend of the garden.
Fire Wise Garden story
The establishment of the Firewise Demonstration Garden was the culmination of years of work with partners and volunteers. Learn more below about how our firewise garden vision was put into practice! We remain grateful to the many volunteers and sponsors that helped make this dream a reality.
2020-2021: A Partnership Germinates
In 2020 a partnership was established with the Montana City Volunteer Fire Department to construct a fire wise landscape garden at fire station 1, just north of the round-about at the Mt. City exit off I-15. Start-up funding was provided by Jefferson County, the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (DNRC), and the US Forest Service (USFS).
In 2021, the approximately one-half acre of land west of the fire station was prepped by removing the existing crested wheatgrass and reworking the soil. Irrigation, a concrete border, landscaping fabric, decorative rock and a decomposed granite pathway were installed. The pathway and site amenities were designed to be handicap accessible.
2022 Spring: The Garden Takes Root
During the spring and summer of 2022 irrigation, landscaping and the first phase of planting was completed. Over 52 flowering plants, 21 shrubs, and 10 trees were planted. A large variety of plants were planted to better demonstrate the wide range of fire wise vegetation that is available to use in this region of Montana. The garden was designed and planted to demonstrate that an effective landscape design includes well-spaced plants with low-flammability characteristics, surrounded by a non-flammable material like stone
2022 Summer/Fall: Taking Shape!
In the summer and fall of 2022, the garden is starting to take shape! All of the garden beds were planted. The northern beds are non-irrigated and planted with hardy plants. All the beds are edged with steel edging.
2023: Nearing Completion
Spring kicked off a busy season at the garden. The final garden bed, was constructed. Native plants and rocks were used for the new crevice garden, demonstrating how non-irrigated, native plants can be very attractive. The summer months were spent weeding and replacing some plants that died over the winter. Four interpretive signs were installed and garden brochures were made available for the public. In September, construction on the Sonny Stiger Memorial Pavilion began through the generous volunteer efforts of Abraham Construction and a generous donation from the Wolf Creek Cattle Company and TrueNorth Steel.
2023: Crevice Gardens
Next, it was time to build our crevice gardens. The difference between a crevice garden and a regular rock garden is the mix of growing material and placement of the material so plants have the ability to put their roots down deep between the rocks. The middle of our crevice gardens has native plants exclusively, which were collected locally and are thriving without any irrigation.
2024 Spring: More Crevice Gardens
Spring 2024 kicked off with the installation of 2 more crevice gardens using donated rock.
2024 Summer: The Finishing Touches
2024 was a busy and productive summer! Abrahamson Construction completed construction of the Sonny Stiger Memorial Pavilion. Additional interpertive signs were installed and benches were placed inside the pavilion. The MT City Fire Department also installed a picnic table and benches.
2024: Open House & Dedication
A BIG blue sky and the Elkhorn Mountains were the perfect backdrop on a beautiful September day for an open house and dedication of the Sonny Stiger Memorial Pavilion and the Fire Wise Garden. More than a 100 people gathered to enjoy the open house which consisted of garden tours, plant giveaways, a BBQ lunch, and the display of the Mt. City Volunteer Fire Department trucks and apparatus. The focus of the event was to recognize garden sponsors and volunteers and to dedicate the pavilion. The pavilion was named in honor of Sonny Stiger, the founding member of TCFSWG, who dedicated his professional wildfire career to raising awareness about wildfire safety and prevention measures. The pavilion serves as a gathering area and contains materials about fire wise landscaping and wildfire safety. A special thanks to our garden volunteers and sponsors who helped make the event such a success!
