Richmond, VA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Richmond City Code Sec. 11-105 sets a flat 12-inch ceiling on grass, weeds, bushes, and other vegetation on any property a person owns or occupies inside the City, with a specific carve-out for trees, shrubbery, agricultural plants, garden vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants under Subsection (a). Subsection (c) extends the same 12-inch rule to the sidewalk, right-of-way, or grass strip abutting the property, and to unimproved streets or alleys out to the centerline. Subsection (b) separately bars vegetation that protrudes into a street, sidewalk, right-of-way, or alley so as to obstruct or threaten safe movement, and Subsection (d) requires owners to clear fallen trees, limbs, and branches once the accumulation becomes offensive, unwholesome, or unsightly.

Enforcement runs through Sec. 11-107: any law enforcement officer, fire marshal, fire inspector, sworn special police officer, or other City employee designated by the Chief Administrative Officer may act, and the City mails, posts, or delivers a notice giving the owner 48 hours, or a longer stated deadline, to cut the growth, with one notice per March-to-November growing season treated as reasonable. If the condition is an imminent threat to public health or the environment, the City can skip notice and abate immediately. Under Sec.

00 plus the actual abatement cost, both of which become a lien on the property collected the way real estate taxes are collected. The Chief Administrative Officer must also report annually, by December 1, on the number of properties abated and the total liens imposed.