9 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Lane County, Oregon.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Lane County, grass more than 10 inches high is "noxious vegetation" and a nuisance in urban growth boundaries and lands zoned RR-5, RR-2, RR-1 or RA. Agricultural crops that pose no fire or traffic hazard are exempt. Elsewhere, your city's code governs.
LC 9.057.574
"Noxious Vegetation" means: A. Weeds more than ten (10) inches high. B. Grass more than ten (10) inches high unless that vegetation is an agricultural crop and does not create a fire hazard or traffic hazard.
Lane County requires vegetation to be kept from obstructing walkways and roads. Under LC 9.057.576(A), branches must not overhang a pedestrian way lower than nine feet or a street lower than fifteen feet, and must not block views of traffic signs, signals or street lights.
LC 9.057.576(A)(1)
Vegetation that encroaches upon or overhangs a pedestrian way or adjacent parking strip lower than nine feet or encroaches upon or overhangs a street lower than fifteen (15) feet.
Lane County has no general permit to cut a tree on your own residential lot. But commercial harvesting on forestland is governed by the Oregon Forest Practices Act (ORS 527), and forest-zone dwellings must maintain fuel-break clearances. Cities set their own street-tree removal rules.
ORS 527.670(6)
An operator, timber owner or landowner, before commencing an operation, shall notify the State Forester.
Lane Code 9.057.574 defines weeds more than ten inches high as "noxious vegetation," along with poison oak or ivy, tansy ragwort, thistle, and encroaching blackberry. In UGBs and RR/RA-zoned areas, owners may not permit noxious vegetation on their property.
LC 9.057.574
"Noxious Vegetation" means: A. Weeds more than ten (10) inches high. ... C. Poison Oak or Poison Ivy. D. Tansy Ragwort. E. Blackberry bushes that extend into a public thoroughfare or across a property line. F. Thistle.
Oregon has no statewide homeowner lawn-watering ban, and Lane County sets no county-wide outdoor-watering schedule. Restrictions come from your local water utility. In Eugene, EWEB runs a mandatory Conservation Season June–September with 2-day-per-week limits.
Rainwater harvesting is legal statewide. ORS 537.141 exempts collecting precipitation from an artificial impervious surface, like a rooftop, from Oregon's water-right permit system. A plumbing or building permit may still apply depending on how the system is plumbed and used.
ORS 537.141(1)(h)
The collection of precipitation water from an artificial impervious surface and the use of such water.
Lane County does not require homeowners to plant native species, and the noxious-vegetation code exempts nothing based on native status. In forest and riparian zones, however, indigenous vegetation is protected, and the county and OSU Extension promote natives for fire-wise and habitat landscaping.
Lane County has no ordinance regulating, requiring, or banning artificial turf for residential landscaping. Ground-cover choice is unregulated on ordinary lots, subject only to drainage, stormwater and building-code rules. Individual cities and HOAs may set their own turf standards.
Lane County allows residential backyard composting and actively promotes it through its Waste Management program. There is no compost permit for home use, but compost must not become a nuisance — no putrescible-material odors, vectors, or accumulation of waste under Lane Code Chapter 9.
1 cities in Lane County have their own landscaping rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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