Defensible Space and Brush Clearing Questions

Defensible space is the cleared, thinned ground around a house that slows a fire and gives firefighters room to work. California's defensible space law, Public Resources Code 4291, sets it at 100 feet, but not past the property line. In Zone 1, the first 30 feet, everything dead or dying comes out. In Zone 2, out to 100 feet, grass is cut to 4 inches and shrubs and trees are spaced apart.

Yes, send us the notice or the insurance letter with a few photos, and we clear to what it asks. CAL FIRE or the local fire agency checks the property against the state's zone rules or a local ordinance. The state rules cover homes in the state responsibility area and in very high fire hazard severity zones. If a letter also lists home hardening, like vents or a roof, that part is another trade's work.

No, the masticating head grinds brush, saplings and small trees into mulch where they stand. The mulch stays on the ground as cover, and mowed grass is left where it falls. For Zone 0, the first 5 feet from the house, CAL FIRE suggests gravel or pavers instead of wood mulch. Larger material is handled on the written quote.

No. The work is all mechanical: the brush mower cuts grass and weeds, and the masticating head grinds brush. Annual grass comes back every year, so we can return each season for weed abatement mowing.

Small ones, yes: the masticating head grinds saplings and small trees down along with the brush. Larger trees and limbing are a tree service's work. The trees you want to keep stay standing, with the brush cleared out from under them.

Jobs run from a single lot to acreage. That can be a vacant lot with a weed notice, the 100 feet around a house or overgrown ranch acreage. HOAs and property managers can set up seasonal work for common areas and perimeters.

We are based in Seaside on the Monterey Peninsula. The work covers the Peninsula towns, Carmel Valley, Salinas and the Highway 68 corridor, and North Monterey County. Up the coast, it reaches Watsonville, Aptos and Santa Cruz. You can find yours in the towns we cover.

Every property is priced on its own, after we look at it or at your photos. Size, slope, how thick the brush is and how the machine gets in all change the price. So does the split between mowing and the masticating head. Call or text (831) 200-5377, and the quote comes to you in writing.