Lake County, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Lake County does not maintain a municipal-style street-tree or private-tree trimming permit program like many cities. For most homeowners in the unincorporated county, ordinary pruning and trimming of trees on their own property requires no county permit. Two county frameworks do touch tree work. First, the Hazardous Vegetation Abatement Ordinance (County Code Chapter 13, Article VIII) requires, within fire-defensible-space buffers, that trees be pruned to remove ladder fuels - for example, pruning trees to 6 feet above grade within the 10-foot buffer on unimproved parcels (Section 13-60.3) and keeping a 10-foot clearance between tree limbs and chimneys/stovepipes on improved parcels (Section 13-60.2). Second, the County Zoning Ordinance's Scenic Combining District (Article 34) and Environmental Protection provisions (Article 64) can impose tree-retention and design review conditions on parcels carrying those overlays, typically triggered by development rather than maintenance pruning. CAL FIRE rules and a Timber Harvesting Plan apply to commercial timber operations. Outside those situations, the County does not separately regulate how or when you prune ornamental or yard trees.