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Colorado Statewide Rule

Colorado Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Rights for Detached Homes

Some RestrictionsApplies statewide across Colorado (2026)

Key Facts

Governing statute
C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5(1)(i.5)
Applies to
single-family DETACHED homes only
Hardscape cap
no more than 20% of landscaping area
Drought-tolerant option
association must allow at least 80%
Preapproved designs required
at least 3 water-wise front-yard designs
Private remedy
up to $500 or actual damages, after 45-day cure notice
Enacted
Senate Bill 23-178, signed May 17, 2023
Last verified: September 1, 2026

Summary

Colorado law limits how homeowners' associations regulate yard landscaping, but the strongest protections in C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5(1)(i.5) apply only to single-family detached homes; attached homes and condominiums are excluded. For a qualifying detached home, an association's design guidelines cannot require hardscape on more than twenty percent of the yard, must let the owner keep at least eighty percent drought-tolerant plantings, cannot ban artificial turf in the backyard, and cannot prohibit vegetable gardens anywhere on the lot.

(i.5) (I) The use of xeriscape, nonvegetative turf grass, or drought-tolerant or nonvegetative landscapes to provide ground covering to property for which a unit owner is responsible... Associations may adopt and enforce design or aesthetic guidelines or rules that apply to drought-tolerant vegetative or nonvegetative landscapes or to vegetable gardens or that regulate the type, number, and placement of drought-tolerant plantings and hardscapes... except that the guidelines or rules must: (A) Not prohibit the use of nonvegetative turf grass in the backyard of a unit owner's property; (B) Not unreasonably require the use of hardscape on more than twenty percent of the landscaping area of a unit owner's property; (C) Allow a unit owner an option that consists of at least eighty percent drought-tolerant plantings; and (D) Not prohibit vegetable gardens in the front, back, or side yard of a unit owner's property. (VI) ... this subsection (1)(i.5) applies only to a unit that is a single-family detached home and does not apply to a unit that is a single-family attached home ... or a condominium.

View official code

Full Breakdown

5) builds out the enforcement machinery. Every association must select at least three preplanned water-wise garden designs preapproved for front-yard installation, drawn from Colorado State University Extension's Plant Select "downloadable designs" list, a municipality, a utility, or a local water provider's conservation program, and must post its preapproval information on its public website if it maintains one. A unit owner who installs one of those preapproved designs is automatically deemed to comply with the association's aesthetic guidelines, and may substitute a reasonably similar plant when a listed species is unavailable.

"Vegetable garden" is defined broadly to include not just food crops but pollinator plants, flowers, herbs, fruits, and leafy greens, so an association cannot limit the rule to literal vegetables. Associations keep three carve-outs: they may still adopt bona fide safety requirements tied to recognized landscape codes, restrict changes that interfere with fire buffers or defensible space, and protect existing grading or drainage infrastructure. None of this preempts a county's or municipality's own subdivision regulations. The older, separate paragraph (1)(i) covers the excluded category: a single-family home that shares one or more walls with another unit.

There, an association may still confine nonvegetative turf grass to rear yards only, and that paragraph does not apply at all to associations whose community includes time-share units. 5) protections runs through the unit owner, not a state agency: a knowing violation lets the affected owner sue to restrain further violations and recover up to $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater, but only after giving the association written notice and forty-five days to cure. The provision was added by Senate Bill 23-178, signed May 17, 2023, and is now codified in Title 38 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

Violations & Penalties

Colorado does not send a state inspector after violations of these landscaping guidelines; enforcement is private. An affected unit owner must first serve the association written notice of the violation and wait forty-five days for it to cure the problem. If the association knowingly keeps violating subsection (1)(i.5) after that window, the owner may sue to restrain further violations and recover up to $500 or actual damages, whichever amount is greater. The same 45-day notice-and-cure step applies before any suit under the parallel attached-home paragraph, (1)(i).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this law apply to my condo or townhome?
No. Subsection (1)(i.5) explicitly excludes condominiums and any single-family home that shares a wall with another unit. Attached homes instead fall under the older paragraph (1)(i), where the association may still restrict nonvegetative turf grass to the backyard only, and the whole section skips associations that include time-share units. If you own a detached single-family home, (1)(i.5) is the provision protecting your yard.
Can my HOA still require a permit for xeriscaping?
Yes, associations keep the right to review and preapprove designs, but they cannot use that review to push hardscape past twenty percent of the yard or to deny an owner an eighty-percent drought-tolerant option. Using one of the association's three preapproved water-wise garden designs guarantees automatic compliance, so asking for that list before submitting your own plan is the fastest path through review.
What can I actually plant in a Colorado HOA vegetable garden?
More than tomatoes. The statute defines "vegetable garden" to include pollinator plants, flowers, herbs, fruits, and leafy greens in addition to vegetables, and the association cannot confine any of it to the backyard: front, back, and side yard placement are all protected under (1)(i.5)(I)(D).
What happens if my association ignores the law?
You cannot sue immediately. Colorado requires written notice to the association first, followed by a forty-five day window for it to cure the violation. Only after that period expires, if the association knowingly continues violating (1)(i.5), can you file suit to restrain further violations and recover up to $500 or your actual damages, whichever is higher.

Sources

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