Caldwell, ID Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Caldwell encourages appropriate plant selection through its Landscaping Ordinance, Caldwell City Code Chapter 10, Article 7. For required landscaped areas served by irrigation water, Section 10-07-04 (Landscape Criteria and Installation Practices) provides that the primary and dominant landscape material shall be grass, with remaining areas covered by a mixture of vegetative or non-vegetative ground cover such as grass, flowers, mulch, vines, and shrubs. Plant material must meet or exceed the minimum federal standards under ANSI Z60.1 (American Standard for Nursery Stock), and organic mulch such as bark must be applied to planting areas for moisture retention, weed control, and soil-temperature moderation. The ordinance does not mandate native plants, but native, adapted, and drought-tolerant species are fully permitted within those standards and are a practical fit for Idaho's high-desert climate. Importantly, where a property lacks surface or well irrigation water rights, Section 10-07-12 allows a dry-landscaping (xeriscape-style) plan to be approved by Planning and Zoning in place of traditional turf-based landscaping, making low-water native plantings the expected approach for those parcels. Single-family homeowners landscaping an existing yard have broad freedom in plant choice as long as the result is not an overgrown nuisance.