San Jose, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Unincorporated Santa Clara County encourages native and climate-appropriate landscaping rather than restricting it. The County's Sustainable Landscape Ordinance (the local version of the state Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance) is built around low-water plantings, and for new and substantially rehabilitated single- and two-family dwellings the County offers compliance options that reward native plants. Under reported County guidance, the options include a water-budget option (landscape using at least 25 percent less water than 100 percent turf), a plant-restrictions option (within a non-turf area that is at least 75 percent of the landscaped area, at least 80 percent of plants are native or low-water), and a native-plant-emphasis option (at least 60 percent of plants and trees native, with no turf grasses). These thresholds apply to qualifying new or modified landscapes; existing landscaping is not forced to convert. On the protective side, California Civil Code section 4735 prohibits homeowners' associations from enforcing rules that ban low-water-using plants as a replacement for turf, and HOAs cannot fine owners for reducing irrigation during a declared drought emergency. There is no County rule that requires native plants or that prohibits a conventional ornamental garden, but the regulatory direction - through both the County ordinance and state water-efficiency law - clearly favors native and drought-tolerant species, especially in water-budgeted new landscapes.