Woodbury, MN Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Woodbury encourages residents to replace high-maintenance turf with native and low-water landscaping. Its Lawn Care Guide states that 'Gardens and areas planted with native vegetation or designed to reduce lawn watering are exempt from the height requirement, provided that weeds remain a minor portion of the overall vegetation' - so a managed native garden may exceed the normal eight-inch limit. The city specifically promotes bee lawns (fescue grasses mixed with low-growing perennial flowers) and fescue lawns as pollinator-friendly, drought-tolerant alternatives, and points residents to the Washington Conservation District for free site visits and grant help. This local exemption matches Minnesota Statute 412.925, effective 2023, which requires cities to permit 'managed natural landscapes' - intentional, maintained plantings of native or nonnative grasses, wildflowers, forbs, ferns, shrubs or trees, including rain gardens and meadow vegetation. Under that statute such landscapes may exceed eight inches and go to seed, but 'may not include any noxious weeds and must be maintained.' Practically, Woodbury treats a deliberate, maintained native planting as allowed, while an unmaintained or weed-dominated yard remains a nuisance. The city does not publish a separate permit requirement for residential native plantings.