Tehama County, CA Landscaping Rules: Grass Height Limits (2026)

Unincorporated Tehama County does not impose a fixed maximum lawn or grass height (such as a 6-inch or 12-inch cap) the way some cities do. Overgrown grass and weeds are instead controlled two ways. First, the County's Fire Hazard Abatement chapter (Tehama County Code Chapter 9.05, originally TCO 1912) treats accumulations of weeds, grass, brush and other combustible material that create a fire hazard as abatable, with a determination-and-removal process and cost recovery. Second, where a parcel adjoins grass-, brush- or forest-covered land, California Public Resources Code section 4291 requires the owner to maintain defensible space; through the Tehama County Resource Conservation District's CAL FIRE-funded Defensible Space Assistance Program, annual grasses within that zone must be kept to a maximum height of four inches. So for most rural Tehama parcels the practical 'grass height' rule comes from state fire law plus the County's fire-hazard nuisance authority, not a lawn-aesthetics ordinance. Enforcement is generally complaint- and inspection-driven, with notice given before the County abates. The County's foothill oak-woodland setting and long dry summers make annual-grass fuel reduction the dominant concern, which is why the rules are framed around wildfire rather than tidiness.