Glenn County, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Glenn County's code contains no native-plant requirement, approved or prohibited plant list, or xeriscape mandate, so plant selection for unincorporated-area landscapes is left to the property owner subject to general water-efficiency rules. The main applicable standard is California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), 23 CCR Division 2, Chapter 2.7, which Glenn County references in its SB 1383 organic-waste chapter. MWELO applies to new construction projects with a landscape area of 500 square feet or more, and to rehabilitated landscapes over 2,500 square feet, that need a building, landscape or grading permit; it pushes toward climate-appropriate, low-water plants, efficient irrigation and mulch. Glenn County Code Section 7.08.795.130 specifically requires projects meeting the MWELO threshold to comply with the soil-preparation, compost and mulch provisions of MWELO, including applying compost and a minimum three-inch mulch layer to planting areas (with limited exceptions for turf, groundcover and designated insect habitat). Separately, California Civil Code 4735 bars homeowners associations from prohibiting low-water-using plants or drought-tolerant landscaping and from fining owners for brown lawns during a declared drought, and Government Code 53087.7 protects residential drought-tolerant landscaping. So while natives are encouraged by water-efficiency law, the county neither mandates nor forbids them.