Albuquerque, NM Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

The IDO's General Landscaping Standards, § 14-16-5-6(C)(4), list what plant material can and can't be used to satisfy a development's required landscaped area. Subsection (i) states plainly that artificial turf/grass is not counted as living vegetative material, so property owners and developers remain free to install synthetic turf anywhere they like, but it cannot substitute for the real trees, shrubs, and groundcover the IDO requires on a landscape plan. The same subsection restricts real grass too: no more than 10 percent of a required landscape area may be cool-season grass, and irrigated grass can't be planted on slopes steeper than a 1:4 rise-to-run ratio or squeezed into strips 10 feet or narrower, both aimed at cutting water waste in an arid climate.

Every plant that does count toward the requirement must come from the Official Albuquerque Plant Palette of low-water, drought-tolerant, or xeric species unless a decision-making body approves an alternative species meeting six listed conditions, including that it isn't invasive and isn't on the City's Weed Identification Handbook. Because artificial turf earns zero credit, a project short on real plantings can't paper over the gap with fake grass at site plan review; the Planning Department's landscape plan reviewers check the palette and percentages before issuing approval, and continuing noncompliance is enforceable by the Zoning Enforcement Officer under § 14-16-6-9, including a civil penalty up to $500 per violation per day.