Plants
| Item | Verdict | Why, and what to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Junipers, Italian cypress, arborvitae | Must go | Resinous, dense, and full of dead interior material. The most flammable common plants in San Diego yards. Remove roots and all. |
| Foundation shrubs and hedges (boxwood, pittosporum, privet, oleander, bougainvillea) | Must go within 5 ft | Woody vegetation against the wall is exactly what Zone 0 prohibits. Replant beyond five feet if you want the screening. |
| Rosemary, lavender, sage, ornamental grasses | Must go within 5 ft | Aromatic oils and fine, dry foliage. Beautiful in Zone 1, not in Zone 0. |
| Palms with dead fronds or skirts | Must go or be fully cleaned | Dead frond skirts are ember magnets. If the palm stays, it must be kept clean of all dead material and its canopy kept clear of the roof. |
| Ivy, vines, and climbers on walls, trellises, or fences | Must go | They carry fire straight up the wall and into the eaves. |
| Healthy, mature trees | Can stay if maintained | Branches kept at least 5 ft from roofs and walls, canopy at least 10 ft from the roof, litter beneath cleared, dead wood removed. Dead or dying trees must go. |
| Succulents, ice plant, well-watered low groundcover | Ask first | Some jurisdictions allow green, irrigated, non-woody plants in Zone 0. The City of San Diego's published list does not name exceptions. Confirm with San Diego Fire-Rescue before relying on it. |
| Potted plants | Depends on the pot and the plant | A succulent in a ceramic or concrete pot on a paved surface is generally fine. A woody shrub in a plastic pot on a wood deck is not. Move plastic and wood planters out of the zone. |
| Lawn (real turf) | Can stay if green and mowed | Irrigated, mowed lawn is low fuel. Dead or dormant lawn is not — keep it green or replace it with hardscape. |
| Artificial turf | Check the product | Many synthetic turfs are combustible. Some are rated for wildland-urban interface use. Check the manufacturer's fire rating; when in doubt, use gravel or pavers in the first five feet. |
Ground cover and mulch
| Item | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bark, wood chips, shredded wood, pine straw | Must go | Smolders for hours after an ember lands. Replace with gravel, decomposed granite, or pavers. |
| Rubber mulch | Must go | Burns hotter and longer than wood. Does not qualify as noncombustible. |
| Gravel, crushed rock, decomposed granite | Can stay / recommended | The standard Zone 0 solution. Use a weed barrier underneath so you are not pulling dry weeds out of it every spring. |
| Pavers, concrete, flagstone, brick | Can stay / recommended | Best possible Zone 0 surface. Keep the joints free of dry weeds and leaf litter. |
| Bare soil | Can stay | Acceptable, though it tends to grow weeds. Fine as a temporary state before hardscape. |
Fences, gates, and structures
| Item | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wooden fence attached to the house | Modify | The last section that meets the wall — typically 5 ft — should be replaced with a noncombustible gate or panel (metal, masonry, fiber cement). The rest of the fence can remain if it is maintained. |
| Wooden fence not properly maintained | Must go | The city specifically calls out unmaintained wood fences for removal. Rotting, dry, or debris-filled fence lines are fuel. |
| Wooden gate at the side yard | Replace if it touches the house | A metal gate in a metal frame is the usual fix and is often the single most visible Zone 0 change on a suburban lot. |
| Wooden deck or porch | Can stay | Treated as part of the structure. But the area under and around it must be clear of debris, stored items, and vegetation, and the deck surface kept free of leaves. |
| Wood lattice, trellis, or pergola attached to the house | Remove or replace | Especially if it has vines on it. Metal replacements exist for all of these. |
| Sheds and outbuildings within 5 ft | Zone 0 applies to them too | Any structure gets its own five-foot zone. A shed against the fence with a woodpile beside it needs the same treatment as the house. |
Stored items and everyday things
| Item | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Firewood, lumber, pallets | Must go | Store at least 30 ft from any structure, or in a closed metal container. |
| Trash, recycling, and green-waste bins | Must go | Plastic bins full of paper and yard waste are fuel. Keep them in the garage or beyond five feet. |
| Propane cylinders (BBQ tanks) | Must go | Move the grill and tank beyond five feet when not in use. |
| Patio furniture cushions, umbrellas, outdoor rugs | Must go (or store indoors) | Synthetic fabrics ignite easily. Frames of metal furniture can stay; cushions go inside during fire weather. |
| Natural-fiber doormats, brooms, wicker baskets | Must go | Small, easy to forget, and exactly what an ember is looking for. |
| Cardboard, paper, boxes stored outside | Must go | |
| Vehicles, boats, RVs, trailers parked against the house | Move beyond 5 ft where possible | Tires and fuel are fuel. Often not practical on a small lot — do what you can and keep the area under them clear. |
| Leaf litter in gutters and on the roof | Must go | The city includes roofs and gutters in the Zone 0 list. Clean them and consider metal gutter guards. |
| Under-deck and crawlspace storage | Must go | Anything stored under the house or a deck needs to come out. Screen vents and deck openings with 1/8-inch metal mesh. |
A simple test for anything not on this list: if a lit match landed on it and you walked away, would it still be burning five minutes later? If yes, it does not belong within five feet of the house.
Replacing what you remove
Zone 0 does not have to look like a gravel moat. The most common attractive solutions in San Diego are a band of decomposed granite or river rock with a few large ceramic pots of succulents, a paver walkway that doubles as the ember-resistant strip, or simply extending the patio. The planting you love moves five feet out into Zone 1, where fire-resistant plants under four feet tall are welcome. See the cost guide for what these options run, or get a quote from a crew that does this every week.