Ogden, UT Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Ogden City Code section 15-13-16(A)(6) sets detailed standards for artificial turf used as ground cover in required landscaping. 5 inches (shorter pile is allowed in rear yards for planned recreational surfaces) and a minimum tufted weight of fifty six ounces per square yard. It cannot be installed within permanent drainage features such as ponds, swales, retention or detention basins, or within any public right-of-way. The turf must carry at least an eight-year manufacturer's warranty against color fading and pile-height loss, and using plastic or nylon carpeting as a substitute for real artificial or natural turf is expressly prohibited.

Installation must be properly anchored against wind, seamed by nailing and gluing rather than sewing, graded and compacted for drainage with a minimum permeability of thirty inches per hour per square yard, laid visually level with the grain running one direction, separated from planters and live vegetation by a solid barrier, and kept four feet from tree trunks and two feet from shrubs. Citywide, artificial turf is capped at fifty percent of the total landscaping area on a lot, unless it is used for public or private athletic fields or on playgrounds tied to a public or private community center, park, school or university, in which case the fifty percent cap does not apply.