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

Chapter 20's excessive-growth article (Sec. 20-60 through 20-63) makes it unlawful in unincorporated Citrus County to "permit or maintain grass, weeds, brush and undergrowth in excess of 18 inches in height, or an accumulation of vegetative matter" (Sec. 20-61). The board of county commissioners' stated rationale, in Sec. 20-60, is that overgrown vegetation breeds snakes, rats, rodents and mosquitoes, creates fire hazards, hurts neighboring property values, or blocks sightlines at intersections and rights-of-way, so it is declared a public nuisance. That 18-inch rule reaches residential subdivision lots, public/semi-public and commercial/industrial/recreational zoned lots, agricultural or rural residential lots of one acre or less, and any other unzoned-agricultural tract within 100 feet of improved property (Sec.

20-62(a)). But Sec. " In practice this lets an owner maintain an unmowed, natural or native landscape, wildflowers, brush, and volunteer growth included, on a lot that has gone five years without clearing or mowing, without triggering a code compliance citation for the height violation alone. This is a county ordinance and applies only in the unincorporated county; it does not reach parcels inside Crystal River or Inverness, which enforce their own municipal codes. Enforcement of a violation runs through the code compliance special master process under Sec. 20-63 and Sec. 19-54, with notice and a hearing before any abatement.