Landscaping Rules in Hawthorne, CA (2026)
5 verified landscaping rules for Hawthorne, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Tree Trimming
At street intersections, Hawthorne bars property owners from letting tree branches hang lower than seven feet above the curb within thirty-five feet of where the curblines meet, a vision-clearance rule in Municipal Code § 12.20.010(B) enforced citywide as an infraction.
Hawthorne Tree Branch Clearance At Intersections
Some RestrictionsHawthorne Code § 12.20.010(B)
Overhanging Branches. No person owning or in possession of real property located at or near the intersection of any streets shall permit the branch of any tree on such property to hang or extend lower than seven feet at right angles above the nearest curb, when such branch is nearer than thirty-five feet to the point where the adjacent curblines, extended, intersect.
Tree Removal & Heritage Trees
Hawthorne bars anyone, including utility companies, from cutting, trimming, removing, or otherwise interfering with any tree, shrub, or plant on a city street, park, boulevard, alley, or other city property without a permit from the director of parks and recreation, under Municipal Code § 8.12.030.
Hawthorne Permit Required To Remove City Trees
Significant RestrictionsHawthorne Code § 8.12.030
No person, firm or corporation, including utility companies, shall cut, trim, prune, plant, remove, injure or interfere with any tree, shrub, plant or vegetation in or upon any street, park, boulevard, alley or property of the city without a permit issued by the director; provided, however, that any person maintaining any pipe, conduit or pole in any street by virtue of any law, ordinance or fr...
Weed Ordinances
Hawthorne's nuisance code makes it unlawful to let lawn grass grow past six inches, or to leave hedges, weeds, and vegetation unmowed and untrimmed, declaring both conditions a prohibited public nuisance under Municipal Code § 8.20.030(A)(12), enforceable through the city's abatement and citation process.
Hawthorne Caps Lawn Grass Height At Six Inches
Some RestrictionsHawthorne Code § 8.20.030(A)(12)(b)(i)
The city council finds and declares that it is a public nuisance and unlawful for any person to allow, cause, create, maintain, or suffer, or permit others to maintain, real property or premises in the city in such a manner that: ... 12. Overgrown vegetation, including, but not limited to, any one of the following: ... b. Vegetation causing detriment to neighboring properties, or that is out of...
Water Restrictions
Hawthorne caps residential and commercial landscape irrigation to before 8 a.m. and after 6 p.m. under Municipal Code Chapter 8.60, with tighter day-of-week schedules once the city council declares a Stage 1 through Stage 4 drought emergency. Hand watering, drip lines, and hose shut-off nozzles stay exempt.
Hawthorne Irrigation and Watering Rules
Some RestrictionsHawthorne Code § 8.60.040
C. The irrigation of residential and commercial landscape is only permitted before eight a.m. and after six p.m. only and not during and within forty-eight hours after a measurable rainfall. D. The watering of landscaped areas, including trees and shrubs, located on residential and commercial properties that are not irrigated by a landscape irrigation system requires the use of a hand-held hose...
Rainwater Harvesting
A Hawthorne lot with less than 2,500 square feet of landscape can skip the full water-efficient landscape documentation package if stored rainwater captured on site, or treated or untreated graywater, supplies the entire estimated water use, triggering only the streamlined Appendix E provision under Section 17.89.030(B).
Hawthorne Rainwater Harvesting Landscape Credit
Some RestrictionsHawthorne Code § 17.89.030(B)
For projects using treated or untreated graywater or rainwater captured on site, any lot or parcel within the project that has less than two thousand five hundred square feet of landscape and meets the lot or parcel's landscape water requirement (estimated total water use) entirely with treated or untreated graywater or through stored rainwater captured on site is subject only to Section B.5 of...
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County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Hawthorne city rules.
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