Taylorsville, UT Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Rather than requiring native plants outright, Taylorsville's Water Efficient Landscaping standards in § 13.25.010(D) recommend plant selection as one piece of a broader conservation package. Item (k) states that 'plants selected for landscaping should consist of plants that are well suited to the microclimate and soil conditions,' language that favors regionally adapted and drought-tolerant species without naming 'native' species specifically. That recommendation sits alongside mandatory companion rules in the same subsection: drip irrigation or bubblers are required in every landscaped area except lawn, each irrigation valve must serve plant materials with similar watering needs, and at maturity a planting bed should carry at least 25 percent living plant cover.

The code separately defines the low-water landscaping method these plant choices support. Taylorsville City Code § 13.36.250 defines 'Xeriscape' as 'a landscaping method developed especially for arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water conserving techniques such as the use of drought tolerant plants, mulch, and efficient irrigation,' and defines 'Xeriscaping' as 'landscaping characterized by the use of vegetation that is drought tolerant or of low water use in character.' Because these are defined, recognized terms rather than banned or restricted ones, a homeowner or developer who converts turf to a xeriscape planting bed of mulch and drought-tolerant, low-water shrubs is squarely within the code's own vocabulary for compliant, water-efficient landscaping, and can point to § 13.36.250's definitions when a plan reviewer questions a non-turf design.