Rock Hill, SC Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Rock Hill takes a voluntary, education-based approach to native-plant landscaping. The Rock Hill Municipal Code does not require native species on private residential property. Resources for Rock Hill homeowners include the South Carolina Native Plant Society (scnps.org), Clemson Cooperative Extension Service Home & Garden Information Center (https://hgic.clemson.edu/) which publishes Piedmont-zone native-plant guides, the South Carolina Forestry Commission Urban & Community Forestry program (https://www.scfc.gov/management/urban-forestry/), and Trees SC (https://treessc.org/). The IPMC 12-inch grass-and-weed standard enforced by Neighborhood Services remains the operative limit, but maintained, intentional native-plant or pollinator-habitat plantings read as 'cultivated gardens' rather than rank neglect for enforcement purposes — documentation of an intentional planting plan (a labeled bed, defined edges, a written maintenance schedule) helps establish that character. South Carolina's Right to Farm Act (Title 46, Chapter 45, §46-45-10 et seq., available at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t46c045.php) provides nuisance protection for agricultural operations against complaints raised after the operation has been in place, when the operation is conducted using generally accepted practices. The Act's protected commodities expressly include native grass and aquacultural species, which can be relevant to native-meadow or pollinator-habitat plantings tied to bona fide agricultural use. Rock Hill's Chapter 31 (Zoning) site-plan review encourages — but does not generally require by ordinance — native or drought-tolerant species in stormwater best-management practices and landscape buffers on commercial and multifamily sites, with City Landscape Architect review.