Vegetation

Zone 0 plants allowed in California: what the adopted rule actually lets you keep

Fact-checked August 19, 2026·Sources at the end of this article

The most misreported five feet in California

The most common error in Zone 0 coverage is the claim that California is about to make homeowners scrape every living plant out of the first five feet around the house. The regulation the Board approved on August 19, 2026 does not say that. It bans vegetation in four narrow buffer strips. Elsewhere in the zone it allows lawns, small plantings, and potted plants, and it lets existing, maintained trees stay. The Board of Forestry's own summary says the rule "seeks to balance fire mitigation with other property considerations, while allowing plants and trees in parts of Zone 0."

The confusion is understandable, because bare-dirt versions of Zone 0 genuinely exist; they are just not the state rule. The voluntary IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification requires removing all vegetation within five feet "to bare mineral soil." Berkeley's EMBER ordinance, in force since January 1, 2026 in the Grizzly Peak and Panoramic mitigation zones, lists vegetation, climbing vines, and synthetic lawn among prohibited combustibles. Both are real: the IBHS standard is voluntary, and Berkeley's ordinance is local law in two hillside zones. Neither is the statewide rule, which was adopted August 19, 2026 and is not in effect until the Office of Administrative Law completes review, including a five-day public comment period, and the Secretary of State publishes it. If you are new to this, start with what Zone 0 is and the full Zone 0 guide.

A caution about the exact wording quoted throughout this article. The August 19 package in the Board's binder is the pre-meeting deliberative draft, and no certified "as adopted" text has been published yet; amendments made from the floor would not appear in it. The buffer and plant-allowance provisions below were carried into that package unchanged from the July draft, with one exception, the potted-plant container term, flagged where it comes up.

Where vegetation is banned: four buffers, not five feet

Here is the operative sentence, the one almost nobody quotes:

"no vegetation is permitted in those parts of Zone 0 that are: under eaves; less than one (1) foot from an Occupied Structure where there is no eave; or less than five (5) feet from a deck, stairs, or pergola that is attached to an Occupied Structure; or within two (2) feet of windows, doors, posts, or vents."

14 CCR §1298.04(b)(6), Board of Forestry July 2026 draft rule text, unchanged in the August 19, 2026 package

That is the entire vegetation ban. One nuance changed in August, and it enlarges the deck buffer for a lot of houses: the definition of "Occupied Structure" now excludes only noncombustible patios. An attached deck, stairs or pergola counts as part of the structure whatever it is built from, so the five-foot buffer wraps around a metal or concrete deck the same as a wood one. More in our decks and stairs article. Everything outside these strips falls under the allowance rules.

What the regulation allows: lawns, small plants, pots

Outside the buffers, the rule permits three categories of vegetation. First, lawn. Yes, actual lawn:

"Well-maintained Non-Woody Plants less than three (3) inches tall that are free of dead or dying materials are permitted, including lawns and ground covers."

14 CCR §1298.04(b)(7)(A), July 2026 draft rule text, unchanged in the August 19, 2026 package

Second, taller in-ground plants, with geometry rules:

"Well-maintained Non-Woody Plants between three (3) and eighteen (18) inches tall free of dead or dying material are permitted if they are in plantings no more than one (1) square foot in area; and are set apart from each other by one and a half (1.5) times the height of the tallest plant."

14 CCR §1298.04(b)(7)(B), July 2026 draft rule text, unchanged in the August 19, 2026 package

In practice, an 18-inch plant needs about 27 inches of clear space. Third, potted plants:

"Well-maintained Non-Woody Plants in pots are permitted if they are in unaffixed, non-Combustible pots or containers that are no larger than five (5) gallon capacity and are set apart by one and a half (1.5) times the height of the plant from each other. These plants shall be no greater than eighteen (18) inches in height."

14 CCR §1298.04(b)(7)(C), July 2026 draft rule text; the August 19, 2026 package changed the container term, below

That last provision is the one place in this article where the August package tightened the plant rules, and it tightened them in only one of the two tracks. The Very High zone version at §1298.04(b)(7)(C) now uses the defined term Noncombustible for pots and containers, which ties them to the ASTM E136 furnace test the regulation adopts for materials generally. The State Responsibility Area twin at §1299.03(d)(7)(C) still uses the undefined "non-Combustible". So read the stricter pot requirement as Very High zone text rather than statewide text. What passes ASTM E136 in practice: aluminum, steel, wrought iron, chain link, masonry, concrete, and stone. Wood, vinyl, and composite do not pass.

Notice the term doing the quiet work in all three provisions: non-woody. The allowances cover herbaceous plants only. Woody shrubs are not on the allowed list, and the Board's FAQ names "woody plants" among the combustibles it expected the regulations to address. The allowances also remain subject to the buffers: a lawn still stops a foot from the wall.

Trees: existing ones may stay; new plantings are the honest asterisk

Under §1298.04(b)(5), carried into the August package unchanged, existing mature trees may remain with maintenance: no dead or dying branches; live branches at least 10 feet from chimneys and stovepipes; none under eaves; ladder fuels removed from the lower 6 feet or lower third of the tree, whichever is smaller, and within 5 feet above a roof; and, per subsection (E), all live branches "at least five (5) feet above a roof and at least one (1) foot from the walls of an Occupied Structure where there is no eave."

The Board's Zone 0 FAQ (September 17, 2025) puts it plainly: "Trees are allowed in Zone 0 as long as they are maintained and their lower branches are pruned to prevent fire from climbing into the canopy of the tree." It adds that "single specimen" trees and trees protected by local ordinance "have exceptions from the regulations."

New trees are murkier, and here is the discrepancy almost nobody flags. The Board's plain-language summary states:

"To ensure alignment with the existing CWUI code overseen by the California Office of the State Fire Marshal, no new trees can be planted in Zone 0 upon the effective date of the regulations."

Board of Forestry, July 2026 draft summary, p. 3

But that sentence appears only in the summary narrative. The rule text itself (§1298.04 and §1299.03) contains no explicit no-new-tree-planting provision, and the August package did not add one. We report both facts because that is the honest state of the record.

No, there is no irrigation mandate

Another persistent claim: the state will force you to irrigate whatever you keep. The rule text contains no irrigation requirement, and the Board's FAQ addresses it directly:

"the Board lacks the authority to mandate homeowners to irrigate their landscapes, and enforcing such a standard would be very difficult, especially in communities where water is costly or limited."

Board of Forestry, Frequently Asked Questions about Zone 0, September 17, 2025 (Q21)

One local contrast: San Diego's in-force guidelines do require permitted plantings to be "irrigated and free of dead material," among a dozen conditions. Inside city limits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, that is your rule. See our San Diego Zone 0 guide.

The Los Angeles fight, from the actual council file

Vegetation, not fencing, is why Zone 0 became a political story. On January 13, 2026, the Los Angeles City Council adopted Council File 25-1428 by 13 ayes and no nays, instructing LAFD to write the city's own Zone 0 rules from the most permissive vegetation and tree options the state's advisory committee circulated in October 2025:

"Option #4 of the Vegetation Options for Zone 0 include language that allows plants in pots and other vegetation in Zone 0 but prohibits dead or dying plants, needles, leaves, weeds, and combustible mulches."

Los Angeles City Council proceedings, January 13, 2026, Item 25, CF 25-1428

On trees, the motion points to Option #2: well-maintained trees allowed, branches kept 10 feet from chimneys, exceptions for trees protected by local ordinance, while omitting the state rule's 5-foot roof-clearance and limb rules. Inside Climate News described the motion as aligning with "the most lenient options that allow healthy vegetation and do not require the removal of tree limbs within five feet of a house." As of August 19, 2026, Los Angeles has adopted no ordinance. This is a direction to draft one; see our local ordinances tracker.

The state rule next to the rules already in force

The bare-earth requirements come from the voluntary IBHS standard and Berkeley's two hillside zones, the versions most often misattributed to the state rule.

What this means for you

As of August 19, 2026, no statewide vegetation rule is in force. The Board adopted the regulation that day, and it stays inert until Office of Administrative Law review and Secretary of State publication are done. Nothing here is required today unless your jurisdiction has its own ordinance. Check whether Zone 0 would apply to your home. Here is the practical read for when the rule does take effect:

• You do not have to scrape your yard bare. Walk your house with a tape measure and mark the buffers: under eaves, 1 foot from walls without eaves, 2 feet from windows, doors, posts, and vents, 5 feet from an attached deck, stairs, or pergola, whatever that deck is made of.
• What survives outside the buffers: mowed lawn and ground covers under 3 inches, small spaced herbaceous plantings up to 18 inches, and potted plants in noncombustible pots of 5 gallons or less (in Very High zones, pots that meet ASTM E136).
• What goes regardless of buffers: combustible mulch, fallen leaves and needles, dead or dying material, and stored firewood.
• Trees: the rule's answer for an existing tree is pruning to spec, not removal: dead wood out, ladder fuels lifted, live branches clear of roof, walls, and chimneys.
• Timing: for existing homes, the vegetation buffers sit in the rule's later phase, within 3 years of an effective date or up to 5 on a local fire agency's timeline. The tree items at (b)(5)(A) to (C), dead and dying branches, chimney clearance and ladder fuels, come due on the effective date itself, alongside roof and gutter debris. New construction complies immediately. See our timeline and enforcement article.

To work through your whole yard, category by category, use the Zone 0 checklist hub.