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

Unincorporated Madera County does not restrict homeowners from choosing native or drought-tolerant plants; in fact, low-water, climate-adapted landscaping is favored by both state policy and the County's water-conservation interests in a hot, dry San Joaquin Valley and Sierra-foothill setting. California Government Code Section 53087.7 prohibits a city, charter city, county, or city and county from enacting or enforcing any ordinance or regulation that prohibits the installation of drought-tolerant landscaping using living plant material on residential property—so Madera County cannot ban a homeowner from replacing turf with California natives, succulents, or other living low-water plants. That statute defines drought-tolerant landscaping to mean living plant material and expressly does not include synthetic grass or artificial turf. Separately, California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), in the California Code of Regulations Title 23 (Sections 490 and following), steers qualifying new and rehabilitated landscape projects toward climate-adapted, low-water-use plants and efficient irrigation through a water budget. For homeowners-association communities, Civil Code Section 4735 bars HOAs from prohibiting low water-using plants as a group. Native landscaping also supports defensible space when designed correctly, though plants must still be maintained so dead material does not become a fire or weed-abatement hazard under County Code Ch. 7.26. Owners are free to landscape with natives; they should keep plantings irrigated efficiently and clear of dead growth.