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

There is no Kings County ordinance requiring homeowners to plant California native species, nor any rule forbidding their removal, on private property in the unincorporated area. Residents are free to choose ornamental, native, or drought-tolerant plantings. Where native and low-water plants enter County regulation is at the development-review stage: projects that submit landscape and irrigation plans to the Community Development Agency are reviewed for consistency with California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) framework, which favors climate-adapted and drought-tolerant species, hydrozoning, and limits on high-water turf. Native and Mediterranean-climate plants help meet the maximum applied water allowance under that framework. The County does not maintain a protected-native-plant list of its own; statewide protections for certain native species (for example, native oaks in some contexts, or plants listed under the California Native Plant Protection Act and Endangered Species Act) are administered by state agencies, not by County code. For most yards, choosing natives is a voluntary, water-saving and habitat-friendly option rather than a County requirement.