Washington County, MD Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

, states that all persons who own improved lands along or adjacent to any of the improved public highways or roads of Washington County shall cut down and remove briars, undergrowth, bushes, and weeds from and along such roads and highways on or before June 15 each year. The deadline applies specifically to improved lands bordering improved public roads and highways, not to vacant or unimproved parcels away from a county road. If a landowner misses the deadline, the section does not impose a criminal fine; instead, the County Commissioners step in and have the growth cut and removed at the county's expense, then recover those costs and reasonable expenses from the landowner in the same manner as any other debt is recoverable.

The statutory history traces this obligation back to 1930 (Art. 22, sec. 708), carried forward through the 1957 Code, a 1966 amendment, and the 1984 and 1991 recodifications, showing the roadside-clearing duty has been continuous rather than newly added. The section closes with a savings clause: it does not supersede any other authority the County Commissioners may hold, nor does it diminish or extinguish any other power they may have to regulate briars, undergrowth, bushes, or weeds, meaning a separate nuisance or zoning enforcement path can still apply on top of this cost-recovery mechanism.