Dallas County, TX Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Dallas County imposes no landscaping ordinance on single-family residential lots in unincorporated territory; there is no required plant list, minimum turf area, or native-species mandate at the county level. Property owners may freely plant Texas natives such as live oak, cedar elm, Mexican plum, bluebonnet, Texas sage, Gregg's mistflower, big bluestem, and Blackland Prairie grasses. State law provides strong protection against HOA interference: Texas Property Code 202.007 prevents property owners' associations from prohibiting drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving turf, though HOAs may still require homeowners to submit a landscape plan for aesthetic review and may set reasonable standards so long as those standards do not effectively prohibit xeriscaping. The North Central Texas Council of Governments and Dallas County Master Gardeners promote native planting through the Texas SmartScape program, which emphasizes regionally adapted species suited to Blackland Prairie and Cross Timbers ecoregions. Properties near waterways may fall within floodplain management areas administered by Dallas County Public Works; vegetation changes inside a regulatory floodway require a floodplain development permit to ensure no rise in base flood elevation. Removal of large protected trees is not regulated countywide, but some cities in the ETJ (such as Dallas and Irving) apply tree preservation rules after annexation. No watering schedule is set by the county, though most municipal water providers in Dallas County enforce year-round twice-per-week outdoor watering limits.