Force 2M Homeowners to Rip Out Gardens Instead of Managing Forests – Twitchy

People in California may have to rip out all of their landscaping because of a law that says people can’t have flowers and other greenery near their houses because wildfires. Maybe, they should look at ways to mitigate forest fires rather than making people rip out all of their landscaping. 

California law could force 2M homeowners to rip out gardens due to fire risk https://t.co/E7CCg2VTto pic.twitter.com/ya8TYLUDCM

— New York Post (@nypost) December 24, 2025

A California policy that’s been delayed amid backlash could force millions of homeowners to rip out flowers, gardens and bushes near their homes to mitigate against the deadly wildfires that tore through the state in recent years.

The policy, dubbed “zone zero,” will apply to some 2 million homeowners in the state and require them to clear plants and other combustible materials within five feet of their homes — even if it means destroying home gardens.

The “zone zero” policy dates back to a 2020 state law, authored by former Glendale assemblymember Laura Friedman and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, that mandated the greenery-free zone and gave the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection until Jan. 1, 2023 to write the regulations.

The state has long blown through that deadline amid furor over the anti-garden policy. Residents in leafy Berkeley railed against the anti-garden law but ultimately approved new rules that would put homeowners into compliance with the state’s zone zero policy.

“It just feels horrific to anyone who loves nature,” East Bay resident Rhonda Gruska told the San Francisco Chronicle in April. “We care about the plants. We don’t want to rip them out and put in cement.” 

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Leave it to California to figure out the worst solution to a pressing problem. They could look into ‘control burns’, for example. 

California’s ‘Zone 0’ rules prove the state never met a mandate it didn’t love — now even flowers and shrubs are targets, with 2M homeowners stuck paying the price for Sacramento’s mistakes. https://t.co/pB4FC0ZRGc

— Matthew Newgarden (@a_newgarden) December 24, 2025

Nice gardens, terrible timing.
California’s landscaping rules: more fear than flowers.

— ISMAIL BINDAWA 📊 (@BindawaOfficial) December 24, 2025

Don’t ever count on California having a good solution to a problem. 

California’s plan to force homeowners to tear out gardens shows how the state treats ordinary people as the problem, while ignoring decades of failed forest policy that fueled these fires in the first place.

— Matthew Newgarden (@a_newgarden) December 24, 2025

I never thought of vegetables and flowers being highly inflammable.

— Parker Shannon (@PShannon30308) December 24, 2025

especially ones under old power lines, and ones owned by Dem arsonists.

— gary beatty (@gbgary54) December 24, 2025

Just a gentle reminder the last destructive fire in California was started by a weirdo Leftist. 

At least they pay the highest taxes in the country to make it worth living here

— Mike Smith (@michaeljsmith17) December 24, 2025

Well that’s not very environmental friendly.

— Kevin Murphy (@10483) December 24, 2025

For a bunch of tree huggers, they don’t seem to really care about the environment. 

Annnd they’ll keep voting for them

— Steno 🛢🩸of the 🌎 (@Steno316) December 24, 2025

That’s the worst part. 

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