9 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Marion County, Oregon.
Verified from official government sources
Within the Salem-Keizer urban growth boundary, Marion County treats weeds and grasses more than 10 inches tall as "nuisance vegetation" that owners must abate. Salem, Keizer and Woodburn enforce their own overgrown-vegetation rules inside city limits.
Marion County Code 8.15.030 (Nuisance Vegetation, Ord. 1193)
"Nuisance vegetation" means, but is not limited to, weeds and grasses more than 10 inches in height; dead or dying vegetation; poison oak; hazardous thickets; other rank, noxious, and dangerous vegetation that is a health hazard or a fire hazard.
Marion County requires no permit to trim trees on your own property, but vegetation that blocks the view of a public right-of-way is a traffic-hazard nuisance you must cut back. In Salem, trimming near intersections must keep vision-clearance areas open.
Marion County Code 8.15.030 (Nuisance Vegetation definition)
...vegetation that is a traffic hazard because it impairs the view of a public right-of-way or otherwise makes use of public right-of-way hazardous.
Unincorporated Marion County has no general private-tree-removal permit. Inside Salem, a "significant tree" cannot be removed without a tree and vegetation removal permit. Keizer and Woodburn set their own tree rules, so removal depends on where your parcel sits.
Salem Revised Code 808.015 (Significant trees)
No person shall remove a significant tree, unless the removal is undertaken pursuant to a tree and vegetation removal permit issued under SRC 808.030, undertaken pursuant to a tree conservation plan approved under SRC 808.035, or undertaken pursuant to a tree variance granted under SRC 808.045.
All of Marion County outside city limits is a weed control district. Landowners must destroy designated noxious weeds and stop them from seeding. Inside the Salem-Keizer growth boundary, overgrown weeds and grasses over 10 inches are separately abatable as nuisance vegetation.
Marion County Code 8.20.090 (Duties of owners, Ord. 1225)
Upon service or posting of the notice provided in MCC 8.20.080, any owner of land shall destroy the noxious weed or weeds specified in the notice on their land or prevent the noxious weed or weeds from seeding or spreading.
Marion County itself sets no residential watering schedule. In Salem, the Public Works Director may curtail water use whenever a supply shortage or emergency threatens delivery, and Salem has activated drought-stage outdoor-watering limits in recent years.
Salem Revised Code 72.250 (Water curtailment authority)
When the Director determines that a water supply shortage exists or is imminent or any other emergency exists or is imminent which threatens the ability of the City to deliver essential water to its customers, the Director may curtail the use of water.
Oregon law lets you collect rain and snowmelt from a rooftop or other artificial impervious surface without a water right. Marion County has no ordinance banning rain barrels; large tanks or indoor plumbing may need a building or plumbing permit.
ORS 537.141(1)(h)
The following water uses do not require an application under ORS 537.130 or 537.615, a water right permit under ORS 537.211 or a water right certificate under ORS 537.250: ... (h) The collection of precipitation water from an artificial impervious surface and the use of such water.
Marion County does not require any particular plants and does not ban native or xeric landscaping. Ornamental landscape grasses that are not a fire or traffic hazard are expressly excluded from the nuisance-vegetation rule, so water-wise plantings are allowed.
Marion County Code 8.15.030 (Nuisance Vegetation definition)
This definition does not include agricultural crops, endangered riparian grasses that have not come to seed, wetland grasses that do not constitute a fire hazard or a traffic hazard and ornamental grasses commonly used for landscaping that do not constitute a fire hazard or a traffic hazard.
Marion County has no ordinance banning or specifically regulating residential artificial turf. Installation on private property is generally allowed. Check drainage and stormwater impacts, any grading permit, and Salem, Keizer or HOA landscape standards.
Marion County has no ordinance banning backyard composting, and no permit is needed for a home compost pile. It must not become a nuisance, attract rodents or vermin, or create odors that interfere with neighbors' use of their property.
1 cities in Marion County have their own landscaping rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
See every category we cover for Marion County — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Marion County Ordinance Hub →