Landscaping Rules in Loudoun County, VA (2026)
6 rules for unincorporated Loudoun County, Virginia.
Verified from official government sources
Tree Removal & Heritage Trees
Nonresidential projects inside Loudoun's Mountainside Overlay District must submit a Tree Cover Inventory, Tree Conservation and Landscape Plan, and Invasive Species Management Plan, and retain at least 30% of existing forested area on site.
Loudoun County Mountainside Tree Conservation Rules
Some RestrictionsLoudoun County, VA, Zoning Ordinance § 5.04.D.5, Table 5.04-5
Tree Conservation and Invasive Species Management. Existing vegetation must be preserved to the maximum extent possible, and the following must be submitted in accordance with the FSM: Tree Cover Inventory, Tree Conservation and Landscape Plan, and Invasive Species Management Plan. ... Preservation of Existing Forested Area. Covered Activities must demonstrate that a minimum of 30% of existing ...
Weed Ordinances
Loudoun County declares Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) a public nuisance under Codified Ordinances Chapter 690. Landowners may not let it set seed, import it, or transport, sell, or offer it for sale in any growable form. An 18-member Johnsongrass Control Committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors runs the control program, and the County has separately adopted Virginia's Musk Thistle and Curled Thistle Code as local law.
Loudoun County Johnsongrass & Noxious Weed Control
Some RestrictionsLoudoun County, VA, Codified Ordinances § 690.03
690.03 PROHIBITED ACTS. (a) No person shall willfully, knowingly and intentionally allow Johnsongrass to set seed on any land within the County, unless such person is engaged in a good faith attempt or effort to prevent the setting of seed on any land within the County when such seed set occurs. (b) No person shall willfully, deliberately, knowingly and intentionally import Johnsongrass into th...
Water Restrictions
Loudoun County's Water Supply Emergency Ordinance lets the County Administrator set mandatory outdoor watering days once Loudoun Water declares a shortage. Under Warning Stage rules, sprinkler irrigation, car washing and surface washing are restricted to designated outdoor water use days, with violations a Class III misdemeanor up to $500 per day.
Loudoun County Lawn Watering Restrictions
Some RestrictionsLoudoun County, VA Code of Ordinances §§ 1046.05, 1046.08(a)(1), 1046.99
The County Administrator, in consultation with Loudoun Water, and in accordance with Loudoun Water's published Rates, Rules, and Regulations, shall establish and promulgate a Schedule of Designated Outdoor Water Use Days that specifies days for outdoor water usage and/or activities in accordance with this chapter. ... Irrigation with a sprinkler or irrigation system only on designated outdoor w...
Rainwater Harvesting
Inside Loudoun County's Limestone Overlay District, Zoning Ordinance § 5.05.F.I bans irrigation systems fed by groundwater. Builders and homeowners in the mapped karst terrain must draw irrigation water from a source that doesn't depend on groundwater, cisterns and stormwater management ponds are named examples, and even community well water is expressly disqualified as an acceptable source.
Loudoun County Limestone Overlay Rainwater Irrigation Rule
Some RestrictionsLoudoun County, VA, Zoning Ordinance § 5.05.F.I (Irrigation Systems)
Irrigation Systems. Irrigation systems are prohibited unless the water for such system is supplied from a source that is not dependent on groundwater, such as, but not limited to, cisterns and stormwater management ponds. Community water supply systems that obtain water through community wells are not an acceptable source of water for irrigation systems.
Native Plants
Loudoun County's Zoning Ordinance requires that at least 80% of the plant units in a required landscape buffer or road corridor buffer consist of native species. The rule applies to site plans and landscape plans submitted for development in unincorporated Loudoun, not to residential yards, and pairs with a companion ban on invasive species in the same buffer plantings.
Loudoun County Native Plant Landscaping Requirement
Some RestrictionsLoudoun County, VA, Zoning Ordinance § 7.04.07.B.2.f.1
f. Native Plant and Pollinator Habitat Requirements. To support native plant and pollinator habitats, Plant units must be provided as follows: 1. Native Plant Requirement. A minimum of 80% of plant units must consist of native plant species; 2. Pollinator Habitat Requirement. A minimum of 75% of the small deciduous trees and shrubs provided must produce conspicuous flowers at some point during ...
Composting
Loudoun County exempts small-scale yard-waste composting from its solid-waste facility permit rules: a property owner may accept off-site yard waste to compost without a permit if the volume stays under 500 cubic yards a year, no one is paid for taking the material, and the pile causes no nuisance or health threat.
Loudoun County Backyard Composting Exemption
Light RestrictionsLoudoun County, VA, Codified Ordinances § 1080.05(b)(4)
Yard waste. Owners or other persons authorized by the owner of real property who receive only yard waste or processed vegetative waste generated off-site for the purpose of producing compost on said property shall be exempt from all other provisions of this chapter as applied to the composting activity, provided that: A. Not more than 500 cubic yards of yard waste generated off-site is received...
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