Renton, WA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Renton Municipal Code 4-4-070 (Landscape Regulations) encourages drought-tolerant and Pacific Northwest native plantings in new development and significant landscape projects. The city's Critical Areas Ordinance (RMC 4-3-050) requires native vegetation for restoration and mitigation plantings in wetland buffers, stream buffers along Cedar River and May Creek, and steep slope zones. Renton participates in the King Conservation District's native plant sale each spring, offering bareroot natives at low cost. Recommended native species for Renton include Western red cedar, Douglas fir, bigleaf maple, vine maple, red-flowering currant, salmonberry, Oregon grape, sword fern, and salal. Intentionally designed native plant gardens are exempt from the 12-inch grass height nuisance rule under RMC 1-3-3, though owners should keep a written design plan and maintain visible garden edges. The city's Salmon-Friendly Gardening and Puget Sound Starts Here programs promote native, pesticide-free yards that protect salmon habitat in the Cedar River and Lake Washington. Homeowners in the Cedar River greenbelt qualify for free riparian restoration support through the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and King Conservation District.