Charlotte County, FL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

185 of the Florida Statutes was written to stop homeowners' associations and local governments from blocking water-efficient yards. Subsection (1)(b) defines Florida-friendly landscaping as quality landscapes that conserve water, protect the environment, are adaptable to local conditions, and are drought tolerant, built on principles like planting the right plant in the right place, efficient watering, mulching, and reduced stormwater runoff. Subsection (3)(b) says a deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit, or be enforced so as to prohibit, any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping, and subsection (3)(c) extends the identical protection against local government ordinances, meaning Charlotte County itself cannot adopt a rule that blocks a resident's native or drought-tolerant yard.

The statute also directs each water management district, and Charlotte County sits in the Southwest Florida Water Management District, to run an incentive program encouraging counties to adopt model Florida-friendly ordinances that identify prohibited invasive species, cap irrigated turf, and set standards for preserving existing native vegetation. Charlotte County has already built these principles into its own land development code: Sec. 3-9-100(b) defines native vegetation as any plant species with a geographic distribution indigenous to the southwest region of Florida, and Sec. 3-9-100(d)(1) and (h) require every landscape plan submitted with a building or site plan application to employ Florida-friendly landscaping design principles, grouping plants by water need, retaining soil moisture with organic mulch, and minimizing turf.

So the same native, low-water landscaping the state protects on individual lots is the baseline the county already requires of new commercial and multifamily development.