9 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 3 cities in Placer County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Unincorporated Placer County has no general lawn-aesthetics height limit, but its Hazardous Vegetation and Combustible Material Abatement ordinance requires annual grasses and weeds to be maintained at four inches or less as part of wildfire defensible space.
Placer County Code § 9.32.160(A)(1)-(2) (Ord. 6015-B)
For improved parcels: 1. Maintain one hundred foot (100') defensible space around all buildings/structures. a. Annual grasses and weeds need to be maintained at four inches or less. b. Tree branches need to be limbed up six feet from the ground. c. Shrubs need to be maintained. d. Non-ornamental climbing vines must be removed from trees and structures. 2. Maintain a ten foot (10') minimum clear...
Routine trimming of your own trees in unincorporated Placer County generally needs no permit, but fire defensible space rules require limbing trees up six feet from the ground, and trimming that materially damages a protected native tree can trigger the Tree Preservation Ordinance.
Placer County Code §§ 9.32.160(A)(1)(b), 9.32.160(A)(3)-(4), 9.32.160(B)(3)
Tree branches need to be limbed up six feet from the ground... Remove all portions of trees within ten feet (10') of chimney and/or stovepipe outlets. Maintain trees adjacent to or overhanging a structure free of dead/dying wood... All trees within ten feet (10') of roadway frontage must be pruned to at least six feet above grade.
Removing a protected native tree in unincorporated Placer County requires a tree permit under the Tree Preservation Ordinance (County Code 19.50). Protection covers most native trees six inches DBH or greater, and applications must be filed at least 30 days before work.
Unincorporated Placer County's Hazardous Vegetation and Combustible Material Abatement ordinance (County Code 9.32, Part 4) requires owners to clear weeds and brush for wildfire safety. Annual grasses and weeds must be kept at four inches or less; non-compliance leads to county abatement and cost recovery.
Placer County Code § 9.32.160 (Ord. 6015-B, 2020)
It shall be the duty of every owner, occupant, and person in control of any improved or unimproved parcel of land or interest therein, which is located in the unincorporated territory of the county of Placer, to abate therefrom, and from all private roadways, all combustible material and hazardous vegetation constituting a fire hazard that may endanger or damage neighboring property.
Day-to-day watering schedules in unincorporated Placer County are set by your water provider (such as PCWA), not the county. The county adopted a Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance for new and rehabilitated landscapes, and California's statewide efficiency framework (AB 1668/SB 606) applies on top.
Placer County Code § 15.75.010 (Ord. 5887-B, 2017)
The Water Efficient Landscaping Requirements outlined here apply to all of the following landscape projects: New landscapes in single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, industrial, and public agency projects with an aggregate landscape area equal to or greater than 500 square feet requiring a permit, plan check, or design review. Rehabilitated landscapes exceeding 2,500 s...
Rainwater harvesting is legal and encouraged in unincorporated Placer County. California's Rainwater Capture Act of 2012 lets property owners collect rooftop runoff without a water-right permit, and small rain-barrel systems (under 360 gallons) generally need no plumbing permit.
Unincorporated Placer County encourages California native and low-water plants and does not restrict planting them. Its Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance and Landscape Design Guidelines steer new landscapes toward climate-appropriate, drought-tolerant species and limit high-water turf.
Unincorporated Placer County has no ordinance banning artificial turf, and synthetic lawn can count as a water-efficient surface under the county's WELO framework. California law also bars HOAs from prohibiting drought-tolerant landscaping, including artificial turf.
Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in unincorporated Placer County. Notably, residents on the western-county One Big Bin program do not have to separate food/organic waste, because the WPWMA facility sorts organics out via mixed-waste processing - the county's chosen SB 1383 compliance path.
3 cities in Placer County have their own landscaping rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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