Loudoun County, VA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 690.01 states the purpose is "to control and to attempt to eventually eliminate" Johnsongrass and related perennial Sorghum species, which are "hereby declared to be a public nuisance." Section 690.03 then bars three acts: willfully allowing Johnsongrass to set seed on any County land absent a good-faith control effort; willfully importing it into the County; and willfully transporting, selling, or offering to sell it "in any form capable of growth." Section 690.04 puts the primary duty on landowners: each must "mow, fallow, treat with herbicides or use such other practices as may be approved by the Johnsongrass Control Committee." A landowner can sign a compliance agreement with the Committee instead.

If the Committee itself performs eradication, Section 690.04(f) splits the cost 50/50 between the County and the landowner, billed and collectible with reimbursements deposited into a dedicated Johnsongrass control account. Section 690.05 governs enforcement: the Committee must send written notice by registered or certified mail identifying the violation, and gives the violator ten days to begin compliance before the matter "shall be referred to the Commonwealth's Attorney for prosecution." Refusing the Committee entry to inspect or spray is itself a violation reportable to the Commissioner of Revenue, who may weigh it against special agricultural-land tax assessments; the Committee can also seek a search warrant through the Commonwealth's Attorney or a County law enforcement officer if entry is refused.

Section 690.06 creates the 18-member Committee, drawn from the County's agricultural community, with duties covering surveys, technical assistance, and spraying programs on both public rights-of-way and private land. Section 690.07 separately adopts Virginia's Musk Thistle and Curled Thistle Code (Code of Va. Title 3.1, Ch. 13, Art. IV) as the "Loudoun County Musk Thistle and Curled Thistle Code," extending the same noxious-weed framework to those two species.