Albuquerque, NM Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Section 9-8-3 defines WEEDS as all rank, noxious, poisonous, harmful or unhealthful vegetation deleterious to health, and then lists the plants covered by name: Pigweed, Russian Thistle, Ragweeds, Lambsquarter, Kochia, London Rocket, Flix Weed, Tansy Mustard, Spurge, Silverleaf Nightshade, Puncture Vine, Field Bind Weed, Purslane, Hoary Cress, Yellow Foxtail and Green Foxtail. The same section gives the Mayor's designee authority to add any other plant to the list if, after a hearing based on evidence, the plant is found to have unhealthy or dangerous attributes that bring it within the ordinance's meaning of weeds.

The purpose clause in Section 9-8-2 explains the policy behind naming these species: the article targets plants of major allergenic significance or that create a fire hazard when wind-collected, while it deliberately protects native and other grasses whose root structures stabilize soil and reduce dust, and it avoids removal methods that fail to distinguish helpful from harmful plants. Section 9-8-4 then converts the list into a hard rule: an owner of any occupied or unoccupied lot may not permit growth of any listed weed, or any other qualifying weed, past four inches in height, width or spread on the lot, the adjoining alley strip, the area to the curb, sidewalk areas, or ten feet beyond the property line where there is no curb.

Section 9-8-5 places the cutting and removal duty on the owner, lessee or occupant. Because native and beneficial grasses are excluded from the definition by the ordinance's stated purpose, a xeriscaped yard planted with non-listed native species is not itself a violation.