Buena Park, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Buena Park's WELO Guidelines (Municipal Code Ch. 13.30) regulate plant selection to conserve water. Under the prescriptive compliance option (Appendix A), residential projects must "install climate adapted plants that require occasional, little or no summer water (average WUCOLS plant factor 0.3) for 75% of the plant area" (100% for non-residential areas), excluding edibles and recycled-water areas. The performance path assigns plant factors by water use (very low 0 to 0.1, low 0.1 to 0.3, moderate 0.4 to 0.6) and lets highly drought-tolerant native plantings that are temporarily irrigated be treated as a very-low-water hydrozone. Plants must be grouped into hydrozones by similar water use, and a minimum three-inch layer of mulch is required on exposed soil (except turf areas), with provision to leave some areas un-mulched as habitat for beneficial insects. The City's parkway guidance explicitly lists "California-friendly plants" and shrubs under 24 inches as acceptable parkway material. While the WELO requirements apply mainly to projects meeting the size thresholds (500 sq ft new / 2,500 sq ft rehab), they reflect the City's clear preference for native and drought-tolerant landscaping.