Tehama County, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Unincorporated Tehama County does not restrict native or drought-tolerant landscaping; it actively encourages it. The County General Plan's Open Space & Conservation element promotes native species: Implementation Measure OS-6.3a encourages 'restoration of native plants as an alternative to exotic grasses,' noting natives reduce weeds and can extend the grazing season, and OS-6.3b encourages diverse understory vegetation including shrubs for wildlife habitat. Measure LU-1.5a advises landowners building within oak woodlands to replace unavoidably removed trees with native species and to avoid landscaping that requires irrigation within the drip line of oaks. On the regulatory side, the County's adopted Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (Tehama County Code Chapter 17.85), which implements the state Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, steers qualifying projects toward climate-adapted, low-water plants and ET-based water budgets. Statewide, the State Water Board's permanent conservation regulation directs that homeowners' associations, cities and counties not prevent homeowners from replacing their lawns with climate-appropriate vegetation — protecting native-plant and drought-tolerant conversions. The County's foothill oak-woodland ecology (blue oak woodland is the most abundant type) makes native grasses, oaks and understory shrubs especially well-suited to local landscapes.