Minnetonka, MN Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Section 845.030 of the Minnetonka City Code sets the maintenance standard for yards, and it names two acceptable treatments: turf grass lawns and managed natural landscapes. The council's own finding says both are acceptable landscape treatments in the city. It adds that areas where soil or vegetation have been altered need intentional transition to new vegetation and active maintenance to stop weedy, noxious, or invasive plant species from spreading.

A managed natural landscape is a planned, intentional, and maintained planting of native or non-native grasses, wildflowers, forbs, ferns, shrubs, or trees. The definition lists rain gardens, meadow vegetation, and ornamental plants as examples. Meadow vegetation means grasses and flowering broad-leaf plants native to, or adapted to, Minnesota or this region and commonly found in woodland, meadow and prairie plant communities. Lawns or wooded areas left unattended for the purpose of returning to a natural state are excluded, so neglect does not qualify as a managed landscape.

The height rule differs by treatment. Turf grass lawns and weeds cannot exceed eight inches, measured from ground level to the tip of each stalk, stem, blade, or leaf. A managed natural landscape can carry plants and grasses taller than eight inches that have gone to seed, but no noxious weeds, and non-noxious weeds cannot cover more than 25 percent of the managed area except during the establishment period. The code defines the establishment period as the timeframe in which a landscape is intentionally managed for transition to new vegetation. Noxious weeds are the plants Minnesota designates under Minn. Stat. § 18.79, subd. 13.

The standard applies to property developed with a building, vacant property combined with developed property for tax purposes, and parcels disturbed by demolition, grading or other means in preparation for development or redevelopment. Turf grass and weed height limits do not reach wetlands, floodplains, required wetland buffers, drainage ponds or ditches, qualifying pastures, or ground that appears never to have been disturbed.