Weed Laws

The Native Plant Society urges communities to update residential ordinances for “weeds,” which are outdated and can be used to penalize homeowners for ecologically responsible landscaping. Native plants provide essential habitat and are better adapted to local climate, soil, and precipitation patterns, making them more resilient to drought and extreme weather. Local communities should encourage their use!

Native plants create a beautiful landscape for people and wildlife at this home in Northern New Mexico.

Here are some useful links if your city, town, or homeowner’s association needs to update its weed laws:
A sample ordinance from Wild Ones: https://wildones.org/resources/

From the Sustainable Development Code, reasons local governments should support and even require the use of native plants: https://sustainablecitycode.org/
brief/require-use-of-native-plants/

A National Wildlife Federation “Guide to Passing Wildlife-Friendly Property Maintenance Ordinances":
https://www.nwf.org/-/media/
Documents/PDFs/Mayors-Monarch-Pledge/
NWF-Landscaping-Guide.pdf

Sometimes adding a sentence to an existing weed ordinance can make all the difference. For example, the Santa Fe weed ordinance definition states, “Weeds do not include flower gardens, plots of shrubbery, vegetable gardens, native vegetation used for landscaping or small grain plots:
https://library.municode.com/nm/santa_fe/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CHXENRE_10-3WE_10-3.4GRACWEPR.
El Paso is similar, exempting native desert vegetation:
https://library.municode.com/tx/el_paso/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT9HESA_CH9.04SOWAMA_ARTXVIIWEVE_9.04.850AP

From Penn State Extension, although it focuses on plants in Pennsylvania, this page includes a useful section that explains the facts behind myths, such as “Natural landscapes attract vermin.”
https://extension.psu.edu/neighborly-natural-landscaping-in-residential-areas

Two members of the Gila Chapter (Silver City), Val Weston and J. Courtney Brandon, faced legal challenges under Silver City’s nuisance ordinance when they rehabilitated their yard with native plants. Val has a list of useful resources on her website, Val In Real Life:
https://valinreallife.com/native-gardening-resources/#aioseo-general