9 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Greenville County, South Carolina.
Verified from official government sources
Unincorporated Greenville County requires owners to keep lots clear of overgrown weeds and rank vegetation under the County's Environmental Ordinance. Codes Enforcement gives a homeowner 20 days to cut and clean an overgrown lot before the county acts.
Greenville County Environmental Ordinance (weeds & rank vegetation)
Under the County's Environmental Ordinance, a homeowner has 20 days to improve the lot. The Housing Code allows 60 days.
Greenville County has no general ordinance requiring a permit to prune trees on your own private lot. County tree standards apply to new development and to trees preserved under an approved Tree Protection Plan; buffer and screening plantings must be maintained by the property owner.
Greenville County LDR Section 13.6 (Landscaping and Screening Standards)
At a minimum, the Greenville County Tree ordinance standards must be met. However, overall composition and location of landscaping shall complement the scale of the development and its surroundings.
On an established single-family lot in unincorporated Greenville County, you generally do not need a permit to remove your own trees. The county tree ordinance regulates tree removal during land development, subdivision, and grading, and protects trees required for buffers or credit.
Greenville County's Environmental Ordinance requires property owners to keep unincorporated lots free of overgrown weeds and rank vegetation. Codes Enforcement investigates complaints and gives owners 20 days to clean up before the county can abate the lot.
Greenville County Environmental Ordinance / Weeds & Rank Vegetation
Under the County's Environmental Ordinance, a homeowner has 20 days to improve the lot. The Housing Code allows 60 days.
Greenville County has no standing year-round watering schedule. Mandatory outdoor water restrictions come from the South Carolina Drought Response Act and your local water utility (Greenville Water) when the state declares severe or extreme drought.
SC Code 49-23-70(C)
The department by regulation may provide for the mandatory curtailment of nonessential water uses during periods of severe or extreme drought in drought management areas.
Collecting rainwater is legal in Greenville County and throughout South Carolina. There is no state or county ban. Rooftop rain barrels and cisterns are permitted and even encouraged for non-potable outdoor uses like irrigation and stormwater control.
Greenville County has no ordinance restricting native or naturalized landscaping on a private lot, as long as the yard is not an overgrown weedy nuisance. County landscaping standards and required buffers apply to development projects, not to a homeowner's plant choices.
Greenville County LDR Section 13.6.1 (General Screening)
Screening shall be at least 6 feet in height within two years of planting and no less than 4 feet in height at planting, unless otherwise specified. Required screening shall be at least 50 percent opaque throughout the year.
Greenville County has no ordinance banning artificial turf on residential lots. Synthetic grass is allowed, but installation must respect the county's stormwater and land-disturbance rules, and any HOA may set its own conditions.
Backyard composting is allowed in Greenville County; there is no ordinance banning home compost piles. Composting must not create odor, vermin, or a nuisance, and agricultural composting is protected under South Carolina's Right to Farm Act.
SC Code 46-45-70
No established agricultural facility or any agricultural operation at an established agricultural facility is or may become a nuisance, private or public, by any changed conditions in or about the locality of the facility or operation.
1 cities in Greenville County have their own landscaping rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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