Brentwood, CA Invasive Plant Rules: Front Yard Gardens (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 8.36.030, front yards built after 1987
- Coverage required
- 50% of front/corner side yard in live vegetation
- Vegetable gardens
- Count toward the 50% coverage requirement
- Synthetic turf limit
- Needs 10% live foundation planting to count
- Turf height cap
- Lawn grass may not exceed 12 inches
- Older homes
- Pre-1988 structures follow § 8.36.020 instead
Summary
Brentwood requires homes built after 1987 to keep at least half of the front yard and corner-lot side yard covered in living vegetation, and Section 8.36.030 counts vegetable gardens toward that fifty percent alongside trees, shrubs, ground covers and lawns. Skip the requirement and the code calls the bare yard an unlawful public nuisance.
§ 8.36.030. Residential landscaping requirements—Structures completed after the year 1987. It is unlawful and declared a public nuisance for any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge or possession of any property used or able to be used for residential purposes, the primary structure on which was completed after the year 1987, ... to maintain that property contrary to the following standards: ... ... B. In residential zones at least fifty percent of the front yard areas and side yard areas on corner lots shall be covered and maintained with some combination of live trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, flowers, lawns, vegetable gardens or other type of vegetation. The calculation of fifty percent may include the area between plants that are spaced in consideration of their mature size, and any area under an existing drip line of a tree that is covered and maintained with a permeable material such as mulch or decomposed granite. Synthetic grass may also be included in this calculation provided that there is some foundation planting consisting of live vegetation, the area of which is equal to least ten percent of the total yard areas visible from the street.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4604307; v5 updated 2025-12-09).
Full Breakdown
030 of the Brentwood Municipal Code applies to any residential property whose primary structure went up after 1987, and it opens by declaring a noncompliant yard an unlawful public nuisance rather than a mere code infraction. Subsection A requires the front yard, minus driveways, parking spaces and pedestrian paths, to be covered with groundcover worked into an overall landscape design that lets rainwater soak in, and it lets synthetic turf count only if the blades run at least one and three quarter inches and the community development director signs off.
Subsection B is where the vegetable garden fits in: at least fifty percent of the front yard and any side yard on a corner lot must carry live trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, flowers, lawns, vegetable gardens, or another vegetation type, and the fifty percent can include the gaps left between mature plants and the mulched or decomposed-granite area under a tree's drip line. If a homeowner uses synthetic grass instead of a lawn, the code still demands that at least ten percent of the visible yard carry real, live foundation planting before that synthetic coverage counts toward the fifty percent.
Subsection C then locks in maintenance: turf cannot grow past twelve inches, dead or diseased plants need replacing, and nothing may hang over a public sidewalk or street. None of this addresses invasive or noxious plant species by name; Brentwood's front yard rule is a coverage-and-maintenance mandate, not a banned-plant list, so a homeowner is free to choose which vegetation, including a vegetable garden, fills the required fifty percent. 020 instead.
Violations & Fines
A front yard that falls short of the fifty percent living-coverage standard, or that lets turf grow past twelve inches or plants overhang a public sidewalk, is declared an unlawful public nuisance under Section 8.36.030. Brentwood's community development department enforces Chapter 8.36 violations with administrative citations under Chapter 1.24 or a misdemeanor charge under Chapter 1.20, and the code treats each day the yard stays out of compliance as a separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I plant a vegetable garden in my Brentwood front yard?
Does Brentwood require a minimum amount of my front yard to be planted?
Can I replace my whole front lawn with synthetic turf in Brentwood?
What happens if my front yard doesn't meet Brentwood's landscaping standard?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Brentwood
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