Truckee & North Lake Tahoe
A yard worth looking at, and a house your insurer will still cover
Defensible space, design and build, patios, irrigation, and maintenance. Every fire job is photographed zone by zone, so when your carrier asks for proof you send a PDF instead of booking another inspection.
“We got the non-renewal letter in March. They cleared it and sent a photo packet I forwarded straight to the carrier. We kept the policy.”
Why Sierra Summit
Nobody up here is losing sleep over shrub selection
They are losing sleep over the letter from the insurance company. Carriers have been dropping Tahoe policies for years now, and the thing that decides whether yours survives is what the first five feet around your house looks like.
So we treat defensible space as the main event rather than an add-on. We work zone by zone, we photograph every zone before and after, and we hand you the documentation. The landscaping is real work and we are good at it, but the packet is the part that saves people money.
Photographed, zone by zone, for your insurer
Every defensible space job gets photographed before and after in each zone, with the work listed against the requirement it satisfies. You get that packet as a PDF. When your carrier asks for proof, you send it instead of scheduling another inspection.
What we do
Five things, and one of them is urgent
Defensible Space
Clearing that satisfies the inspection and still looks like a landscape rather than a firebreak.
Explore defensible space →
Landscape Design & Build
New planting that survives a short season, deep snow, deer, and a fire inspection.
Explore design & build →
Patios & Retaining Walls
Stone that holds a slope through freeze-thaw and gives you somewhere to sit in August.
Explore patios & walls →
Irrigation
Drip that keeps new planting alive through a dry September and survives being blown out in October.
Explore irrigation →
Seasonal Maintenance
The needle removal, pruning, and cleanup that keeps defensible space from quietly growing back.
Explore maintenance →The work
What cleared actually looks like
Most people picture defensible space as a moonscape. It is not. It is spacing, limbing up, and getting flammable things off the wall, and a property reads better afterwards than it did before.
Before After 
Before After 
How we work
- 1
A walk, and a written assessment
We go around the property with you and mark it up. You get a zone-by-zone write-up in two days, free.
- 2
A price by zone, not a lump sum
Zone 0, zone 1, zone 2 priced separately, so you can do the urgent part now and the rest next season.
- 3
The work, and the photos
We clear, plant, or build, and we photograph every zone before and after as we go.
- 4
The packet
You get the documentation for your insurer, and a maintenance schedule so it does not grow back on you.
Commercial
Boards, portfolios, and properties
Association fuels reduction documented well enough to pass a vote. Twenty houses on standing rates instead of twenty separate bids. Commercial grounds that look right through the season that pays.
- HOAs & boards. Fuels reduction a board can put to a vote.
- Property managers. One crew for a portfolio, at standing rates.
- Commercial properties. Presentable in July, and cleared before August.
Word of mouth, in writing
What neighbors say after the inspection
★★★★★
Defensible Space“We got the non-renewal letter in March. They walked it, cleared it, and sent a photo packet I forwarded straight to the carrier. We kept the policy.”
★★★★★
Defensible Space“The inspector failed us on the first five feet, which I did not know was a separate thing. They fixed exactly that and nothing we did not need.”
★★★★★
Design & Build“Third try at this bed. The first two landscapers planted things the deer ate by August. Three years in, this one is still there.”
The crew
The same people, on your property, every visit
We are a small outfit on purpose. The crew that clears your zone 1 in the spring is the crew that comes back in October for the needles, and they already know where your propane tank is and which trees you asked us to leave.
That matters more than it sounds. Defensible space is not a one-time project, it is a condition you maintain, and the company that did it the first time is the one that notices when the ladder fuels start coming back.
Serving Truckee, Tahoe Donner, Glenshire, Martis Camp, Tahoe City, Kings Beach, Incline Village, and Northstar.
Start with a free property walk
We walk it with you, mark what has to go and what can stay, and send a written zone-by-zone assessment in two business days. Free, whether or not you hire us.