Eagan, MN Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 10.21, Subdivision 3.B.1 sets the citywide standard: vegetation on a property may not exceed a height of eight inches, measured from the base at ground level to the tip of each stalk, stem, blade or leaf, with a narrow exception for permitted ornamental or native plantings that naturally grow taller by cultivar. The rule reaches every lot with a building and any vacant lot, outlot or parcel under one acre; larger undeveloped parcels and land tied up in a stormwater basin, wetland or wetland buffer are exempt under Subdivision 3.A.

Owners must establish turf grass, permitted vegetation or woodland across the yard within eight months of a certificate of occupancy or twelve months of a building permit, whichever is earlier, and keep it watered until established. Subdivision 4 folds noxious weeds, over-height turf and any other 'unmanaged vegetation,' the code's term for diseased, dead, poisonous, invasive or overgrown plant material, into the public nuisance definition, so a mowing complaint is handled the same way as junk or refuse violations elsewhere in Chapter 10. A homeowner who wants a no-mow prairie patch or rain garden instead of turf must first register it with the city as a managed natural landscape, a five-year registration requiring a written maintenance plan and a three-foot mowed buffer along property lines; skipping registration turns the planting itself into unmanaged vegetation.

The section was last amended by Ordinance No. 634 in 2025. Because it sits in Chapter 10 (Public Protection, Crimes and Offenses), a violation is punished under Section 10.99 as a misdemeanor, meaning up to 90 days in jail or a $700.00 fine under the Code's general definitions in Section 1.02.