Riverside, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Riverside's landscape regulations align with California's MWELO (Title 23 California Code of Regulations, Chapter 2.7) and promote a plant palette suited to the Inland Empire's Mediterranean climate. The City's approved landscape plant list emphasizes California natives and low-water ornamentals: coast live oak, western redbud, toyon, manzanita, sugar bush, California lilac (Ceanothus), deergrass, and salvias such as white sage and Cleveland sage. New construction and major renovations over 500 square feet of landscaped area must submit a landscape and irrigation plan, calculate Maximum Applied Water Allowance, and certify completion per MWELO. Turf is typically limited to no more than 25 percent of total landscaped area and cannot be used on slopes over 25 percent or in street parkways in most new projects. California Civil Code section 4735 prevents homeowners associations from prohibiting drought-tolerant or native landscaping, and section 53087.7 of the Government Code prevents HOAs from imposing architectural standards that would make compliance impossible. Native plantings support pollinators and the western monarch butterfly, and the City offers periodic native-plant workshops through RPU and Parks and Recreation. Residents may also use the California Native Plant Society's Calscape tool to find species suited to Riverside's USDA zone 9b. Mulch to a depth of three inches is typically required in new plantings, and potable water for irrigation of non-functional turf in commercial settings is prohibited statewide as of 2023 legislation.