HOA Landscaping: Who Maintains What, What Needs Approval, and the State Laws That Override the Rules

The first question in any HOA landscaping dispute is whose ground it is. The general pattern looks like this, but your declaration controls, and the variations are real.

Read the definitions section before anything else. Our guide to how HOA governing documents rank and where to find them explains which document wins when the declaration and the rules disagree. If the association maintains your front yard, it also controls what grows there, and a request to replace turf may be a request to change the association's own maintenance contract.

That HOA landscaping contract is not free. Common-area mowing, irrigation repair, tree trimming and seasonal planting are often one of the larger operating lines in the budget, which is part of why HOA fees run higher than buyers expect.

HOA landscaping standards for individual lots, the HOA yard requirements most owners deal with, tend to fall into two groups: standards for upkeep and standards for appearance. Typical HOA lawn maintenance rules and design guidelines include:

• Upkeep. Lawns mowed and edged, weeds controlled, dead plants replaced, shrubs kept off sidewalks and away from neighbors' lots.
• Irrigation. Systems kept working, sometimes with limits on visible spray heads or watering days set by the local water utility.
• Turf and planting ratios. A minimum share of front yard in living plants, an approved plant list, or limits on rock and gravel coverage.
• Materials. Approved mulch colors, edging materials, boulder sizes, and rules on synthetic turf where state law allows them.
• Structures in the yard. Raised beds, trellises, sheds, fountains and lighting, which usually need approval as improvements.

Many declarations also give the association a right to enter a neglected lot, do the work and charge the owner. That kind of clause lives in the recorded covenants, so it binds every future owner. Our explainer on what CC&Rs are and how to read them shows where to find it before you buy.

In most associations, HOA landscaping approval covers anything that changes how the lot looks from the street or a neighbor's yard goes through architectural review: new beds, removing turf, hardscape, trees, fences, drainage changes and irrigation conversions. Replacing a dead shrub with the same shrub usually does not.

A strong landscaping application includes a scaled site plan, a plant list with mature sizes, the materials and colors for any rock or mulch, irrigation changes, and a note on drainage. Our guide to how an HOA architectural review request works covers the packet, the response window and what to do if the committee says no. Get the approval in writing and keep it. The next board may not remember what the last one allowed.

No federal law governs HOA landscaping. The owner protections that exist are state statutes, written mostly in response to drought and water prices. They differ on what they protect and what the association may still require.

California

Under California Civil Code 4735, any provision of the governing documents or landscaping guidelines is void if it prohibits low water-using plants, including as a replacement for existing turf, or prohibits artificial turf. An association also may not fine an owner for reducing or eliminating the watering of vegetation or lawns during a declared state or local drought emergency, with an exception for owners who receive recycled water and do not use it for irrigation. Owners who converted their yards during an emergency do not have to remove the new landscaping when it ends. If you own in an association in Los Angeles, that statute is the starting point for any turf replacement conversation.

Texas

Texas Property Code 202.007 bars associations from prohibiting or restricting drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf, and also protects composting, rain barrels and efficient irrigation. The association keeps real tools: it may require a detailed plan for review to ensure aesthetic compatibility with other landscaping in the subdivision, may require water-conserving turf when new turf is planted, and may regulate gravel, rocks and cacti. It may not unreasonably deny approval. Owners in Austin and elsewhere in Texas should note that the statute exempts a narrow class of very large developments, so check whether yours is one of them.

Florida

Florida protects what it calls Florida-friendly landscaping, defined in Florida Statutes 373.185 as landscaping that conserves water, protects the environment, adapts to local conditions and tolerates drought. A deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit an owner from implementing it. Separately, Florida Statutes 720.3045 bars HOAs from restricting items that are not visible from the parcel's frontage, an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area or a community golf course, and it names artificial turf and vegetable gardens in its list.

A common mix-up: Florida Statutes 604.71, the vegetable garden law, stops counties and cities from regulating vegetable gardens on residential property. It speaks to local governments, not associations. A front-yard vegetable garden in an HOA in Orlando is protected from the association by 720.3045 only if it is not visible from those vantage points, and a visible one depends on your documents and the Florida-friendly landscaping statute.

Colorado

Colorado Revised Statutes 38-33.3-106.5 has two layers. For single-family homes that share a wall with another unit, the association may not prohibit xeriscape, nonvegetative turf grass or drought-tolerant vegetative ground cover, though it may adopt design guidelines and limit artificial turf to rear yards. For detached single-family homes, a separate subsection says the association may not prohibit nonvegetative turf in the backyard, may not require hardscape on more than 20 percent of the landscaping area, must allow an option of at least 80 percent drought-tolerant plantings, may not ban vegetable gardens in front, back or side yards, and must offer at least three preapproved water-wise front-yard designs. An owner in Denver or anywhere in the state can sue for a knowing violation, after written notice and a 45-day chance for the association to cure, for actual damages or up to $500, whichever is greater.

Nevada

Under Nevada Revised Statutes 116.330, the board and the governing documents may not prohibit drought tolerant landscaping in areas the owner has exclusive use of, such as a front or back yard. The owner must submit plans for architectural review, the design must be compatible with the community's style to the maximum extent practicable, and approval may not be unreasonably withheld. The definition expressly includes decorative rock and artificial turf.

If your state is not on this list, the question is your declaration and general contract law. A rule can still fail for other reasons, which our guide to unenforceable HOA rules walks through.

Taking down a tree is where HOA landscaping and city law overlap. It often needs two approvals, one from the association and one from the city, and neither replaces the other. HOA tree removal rules usually treat a mature tree as part of the community's appearance, so removal goes through architectural review even when the tree is entirely on your lot. Trees on common area belong to the association, and you generally cannot cut or trim them yourself.

City tree ordinances add a public layer. In Austin, a protected tree is any tree 19 inches or more in diameter measured 4.5 feet above the ground, and the City Arborist says a permit is required to remove one, including on residential property. Heritage trees, 24 inches or more and from listed species such as pecan, bald cypress, American elm and all oaks, face stricter limits, and removal is prohibited except as the city code allows. An association approval does not satisfy the city, and a city permit does not satisfy the association.

Ask both before the arborist arrives. If the tree is dead or dangerous, say so in the application and attach the arborist's written assessment.

HOA landscape violations, the most common kind of HOA landscaping dispute, usually start with a drive-by inspection or a neighbor's complaint: brown lawn, weeds, an unapproved rock bed, a tree removed without approval. The letter should cite the provision, describe the condition and give a cure period. Our guide to responding to an HOA violation letter covers the written response and the hearing, and the broader enforcement toolkit is in our guide to HOA enforcement and its limits.

Three responses fit landscaping cases in particular. If the condition is a maintenance lapse, fix it, photograph it with a date and ask the association to close the file. If the change was approved, attach the approval. If a state statute protects what you planted, cite it by number and ask the association to identify the authority for its demand. Owners who have won these disputes usually did so on documents rather than arguments, which is the pattern in our review of cases where homeowners beat their HOA.

If you rent your home out, the notice usually goes to you as the owner even when your tenant controls the hose. Our guide to how the HOA, its manager and a rental property manager split the work explains who should get the letter and who should fix the yard. When a dispute moves toward fines or a lawsuit, a local attorney who handles association law is the right next call.

What you can plant in an HOA yard depends on your state statute, your documents and how visible the planting is. Before you buy plants:

1. Read the documents in order. Declaration, design guidelines, then board rules. Note any approved plant list and turf minimums.
2. Check your state statute. If you are in one of the states above, print the section and keep it with your application.
3. Look for preapproved designs. Some associations publish water-wise templates, and Colorado requires them for detached homes.
4. Submit a complete plan. Site plan, plant list with mature sizes, materials, irrigation and drainage.
5. Wait for written approval. Start work only after it arrives, and keep a copy with your closing documents for the next buyer.

The documents tell you what the HOA landscaping rules say. Only owners who live there can tell you how strictly the committee reads them, and you can ask them on Ask a Resident.

Landscaping enforcement depends on the committee and the inspector more than on the statute, and residents know both.

• Has anyone here replaced their lawn with drought-tolerant plants or artificial turf, and how long did approval take?
• Does the association's landscaping contractor do a good job on the common areas, and do owners complain about it at meetings?
• When yards get violation letters here, is it usually from a manager's inspection or a neighbor's complaint?
• Has the committee ever turned down a landscaping plan that seemed to follow the guidelines?
• Who handles the trees between the sidewalk and the street, and has anyone needed a city permit to remove one?
• Did the association relax watering rules during the last drought or water restriction period?
• Do any neighbors grow vegetables in the front yard, and has the association said anything about it?