Rio Rancho, NM Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Rio Rancho promotes native and low-water-use landscaping both through voluntary programs and through zoning code. The City's Xeriscaping page encourages selecting native and low-water-use trees and plants, improving soil, mulching, and using efficient automatic irrigation, and it maintains a Water-Wise Demonstration Garden at 950 Pinetree Road SE. On the regulatory side, Chapter 154 (Planning and Zoning) governs residential landscaping: the installation of cool-season turf grass (such as Kentucky bluegrass, fescues, and ryegrasses) in residential front yards is prohibited, and any cool-season turf elsewhere on the lot is limited to 1,000 square feet or 20% of the total lot area, whichever is less. Plant materials in front yards must be limited to species that are not listed as high water use on the City of Rio Rancho plant list, which effectively pushes front-yard landscaping toward native and drought-tolerant species. Plantings and turf installed before October 31, 2011 are grandfathered, and after that date HOA bylaws and new restrictive covenants may not impose requirements that conflict with these landscaping rules - so an HOA cannot force a homeowner to install prohibited high-water front-yard turf. New single-family lots must also install at least two trees and three 5-gallon shrubs in the front yard within 120 days of occupancy under an approved plan.