Janesville, WI Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Article VII lets residential property owners convert part of a yard into a managed natural landscape of native grasses, forbs, and rain gardens instead of mowed turf, provided the area meets the setback and border rules in Sec. 22-207(b)(1) through (4). Subsection (b)(5), however, singles out vacant properties for a flat prohibition: natural lawns and natural landscaping are not permitted on vacant land at all. That closes off the one route by which an owner could otherwise let vegetation grow past knee height as a "planned" landscape feature.

Because the natural-landscaping exception referenced in Sec. 22-204(b) does not reach vacant land, an unimproved lot in the City is held to the same 12-inch weed and grass limit, and the same list of 24 named noxious species, that applies to every other property under Sec. 22-204(a). The City enforces the two sections together: a vacant lot with tall grass or noxious weeds is treated as a nuisance the same way an occupied lot would be, and the owner, whether or not anyone lives on or uses the parcel, remains the party the City looks to for compliance and for the cost of any City-performed mowing or clearing under Sec. 22-209.