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

Tulare County's Ordinance Code does not fix a single lawn-height number for the unincorporated areas. Part IV, Chapter 11 defines "grass" as any herbaceous plant which is cultivated and which attains, when mature, if uncontrolled, such a height as to be a medium for the rapid spread of fire, and defines "weed" as any plant, herbaceous or woody and of whatever height, except a tree, which grows wild. Section 4-11-1065 declares weeds, grass, rank growths, and combustible rubbish that create a fire hazard to be a public nuisance abatable by the County Fire Chief. Because the trigger is fire risk rather than a measured height, the Chief evaluates each parcel individually. Tulare County Fire's published Hazard Abatement Program standards implement this by requiring mowed fuelbreaks and 30-foot defensible space around structures and combustible storage, with the highest risk during the April-through-October fire season. Properties inside CAL FIRE State Responsibility Areas (much of rural Tulare County) additionally owe 100 feet of defensible space under California Public Resources Code section 4291, which is state law, not a county rule. Cities such as Visalia, Tulare, and Porterville enforce their own separate weed-and-grass ordinances inside their limits.