Landscaping Rules in Minnesota (2026)

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, tree limbs that overhang public streets, sidewalks or paths are a prohibited…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, § 97.40(B) requires every owner of a tree, plant or shrub overhanging or bordering a…

Coon Rapids requires owners and occupants whose trees or shrubs overhang a public right-of-way to trim the lowest…

In the City of Duluth, homeowners must trim any private tree or shrub that overhangs a public street or sidewalk…

Eagan City Code § 7.08, Subdivision 1.D.5 requires overhanging branches of mature deciduous trees in a street…

Minneapolis requires property owners to trim trees and vegetation overhanging public walkways and streets, maintaining…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota (Hennepin County), the Minnetonka City Council declares trees and hedges that…

Ramsey County does not regulate tree trimming on private land. You may prune trees on your own property freely. In St…

Rochester requires a written permit from the parks and recreation department before anyone trims, sprays, fertilizes or…

Saint Paul requires a free Forestry permit for trimming or pruning public boulevard trees. Licensed contractors must…

In Carver County's unincorporated shoreland areas, clear-cutting natural vegetation within 50 feet of the ordinary high…

In the City of Duluth, removing a special-species tree of 20 inches or more in trunk diameter is prohibited on any…

In the City of Eagan, significant trees, specimen trees and significant woodlands on a development site cannot come…

In Olmsted County's shoreland overlay along lakes, rivers and streams, intensive tree and shrub clearing is banned…

Anoka County bans intensive vegetation clearing in shore impact zones, bluff impact zones and on steep slopes; only…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, removing a significant tree, meaning a healthy deciduous tree eight inches or…

In the City of Blaine, Sec. 129-9(b)(1) limits removal of significant trees from privately owned land to two per year…

Boulevard trees are managed jointly by the city and property owners. Diseased trees (EAB, Dutch Elm, Oak Wilt) are…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, property owners must prune overhanging trees clear of streetlights and intersections and…

In the City of Coon Rapids, no one may cut down a healthy public boulevard or right-of-way tree without a written…

In the City of Eden Prairie, tree removal counts as Land Alteration and needs a City permit unless it stays under a 10%…

Trees or plants removed or damaged during Hennepin County right-of-way work must be replaced in kind, and a tree…

Lakeville requires a tree preservation plan approved by the city forester before land disturbance or tree removal on…

On Maple Grove lots inside the Tree Preservation District, removing more than 32 inches of tree diameter per acre per…

Minneapolis requires a vegetation permit before clearing trees, shrubs, or other vegetation in shore impact zones…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Section 314.01 of the City Code limits removal of protected…

In the City of Plymouth, a preliminary plat or lot division that creates new parcels must include a tree survey and…

Ramsey County issues no tree-removal permit for private property. In Saint Paul, no permit is required to remove a…

Rochester requires a permit before anyone plants, trims or removes a boulevard tree, the trees between the sidewalk and…

Saint Paul requires a certified tree preservation plan before any building, grading, or fill permit, lot split, plat…

Homeowners may remove trees on their own land in unincorporated Scott County without a county permit. The real limits…

Washington County requires a Certificate of Compliance before clearing 20,000 square feet or more of trees and other…

Woodbury lets owners of undeveloped land clear up to 30 percent of their trees with 14 days' notice, but building a…

Wright County issues no general tree-removal permit for private upland trees in the townships. The permit-like control…

In Stearns County's A-160, A-80 and A-40 agricultural districts, any tree removal tied to a new residential building…

Minnesota Statutes §18.78 makes every landowner, land occupant, and public-land caretaker responsible for managing…

Minneapolis enforces an 8-inch vegetation limit under Chapter 227 plus the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law (Statutes 18.76…

Minnesota law requires every landowner to control noxious weeds. Anoka County appoints a weed inspector; cities also…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, every property owner must cut, remove and prevent weeds, grasses and rank…

In the City of Blaine, Section 90-22 declares turf grass, pollinator lawns and weeds a public nuisance once they grow…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, § 97.20(B) makes it every property owner's duty, including on land abutting a street or…

In the City of Coon Rapids, weeds and grass on most lots cannot grow past eight inches or be left to go to seed under…

Dakota County sets no countywide grass-height limit; cities set their own (commonly 8 inches) under Minn. Stat. Ch…

Eagan City Code § 10.21 caps vegetation height on any built lot, and on vacant parcels under one acre, at eight inches…

In the City of Eden Prairie, City Code § 9.71, Subdivision 2 bars letting herbaceous vegetation on a lot, or on the…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, City Code section 4-1-3 makes weeds or grass over eight inches (8") tall a public…

Maple Grove bars weeds and grass over eight inches tall on any property, publishes an annual mow notice each May, and…

In the City of Plymouth, turf grass may not grow taller than eight inches, and noxious weeds designated by the…

Ramsey County (Minnesota) sets no residential grass-height limit for its cities: that is municipal (St. Paul requires…

Rochester City Code § 8-5-3 makes it unlawful, and a public nuisance, to let noxious weeds grow or turf grass exceed 12…

Saint Paul requires grass and weeds below 8 inches under Chapter 45. The city may mow non-compliant properties and bill…

Scott County's agricultural inspector enforces the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law across the unincorporated townships…

Woodbury caps weeds and grass at eight inches tall under City Code's 'eight-inch standard,' enforced zone by zone: R-1…

Wright County's agricultural inspector enforces the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law across the unincorporated townships…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, § 51.05(G) makes it unlawful to water for irrigation between 11:00 a.m. and…

In the City of Blaine, Section 86-219 limits lawn and garden sprinkling to odd-numbered addresses on odd-numbered days…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, municipal water customers follow an odd-even lawn sprinkling schedule from May 1 through…

Dakota County does not set watering restrictions. Your city or water utility does, typically odd/even address-day…

In the City of Eagan, the city can restrict the times and hours residents may run lawn and garden sprinklers…

Section 3.30, Subdivision 12 limits municipal-water irrigation of lawns, grass, or turf to alternating days tied to a…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, City Code section 7-5-12-2 sets an odd/even sprinkling schedule every year from…

Minneapolis Code of Ordinances § 509.1400 lets the city engineer bar irrigation and other water draws from city mains…

In the City of Plymouth, Minnesota, outdoor sprinkling is restricted every year from May 1 through September 30 under…

Ramsey County sets no watering schedule. St. Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) enforces even/odd-address outdoor…

Saint Paul's Board of Water Commissioners can declare drought-phase watering restrictions under Legislative Code §…

Minnesota does not restrict collecting rainwater in barrels for gardens and landscaping, but plumbed nonpotable…

Minneapolis zoning code caps rain barrels and cisterns in required side and rear yards at 4 feet tall for one-, two…

Brooklyn Park lets residential developments swap the standard underground automatic irrigation system required by §…

Carver County lets developers meet part of their required stormwater volume control by capturing and reusing runoff for…

Duluth's Unified Development Chapter treats rainwater harvesting tanks as accessory features that must sit in side or…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, native plants are required, not merely allowed, in the protective buffer strips…

Minnesota law requires every city to allow managed natural landscapes of native or nonnative grasses, wildflowers, and…

Eagan lets homeowners replace turf grass with native grasses, wildflowers, rain gardens and other managed natural…

In the City of Eden Prairie, homeowners may convert lawn to a Native Plant Landscape Area under City Code Section 9.71…

Lakeville homeowners in residential districts can grow native grasses and forbs taller than the normal eight inch…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota (Hennepin County), the City Council treats turf grass lawns and managed natural…

Stearns County's Land Use and Zoning Ordinance No. 439, Section 7.7, protects native plant communities the Minnesota…

In the City of Blaine, Section 90-25(1) exempts a "managed natural landscape" of native or nonnative grasses…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, § 97.20(C)(4) exempts a 'managed natural landscape' from the city's eight-inch grass and…

The City of Coon Rapids lets property owners grow Managed Natural Landscapes of native grasses, wildflowers and other…

In the City of Plymouth, a managed natural landscape, defined the same way as in Minnesota Statutes Section 412.925, is…

Minneapolis property owners may install and maintain a managed natural landscape of native plants, meadow vegetation…

In shoreland areas of the City of Eden Prairie, synthetic turf installed in a yard is defined as impervious surface and…

Minnesota bans putting yard waste in the trash, and Anoka County runs two free compost sites for residents. Backyard…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, all compostable material must be confined to a container. A compost container…

Blaine allows home composting only on residential properties with up to four dwelling units, and Blaine City Code §…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, yard waste kept on site must be composted or stored so it does not create an unreasonable…

Carver County lets residents run a backyard compost pile for their own household yard waste without a county license…

In the City of Coon Rapids, backyard composting must stay inside an enclosed bin under City Code Chapter 8-1600: no…

State law bans putting yard waste in the trash, at disposal facilities, or in resource recovery facilities anywhere in…

In the City of Duluth, yard waste may only go into a back yard compost site or the licensed yard waste compost…

In the City of Eagan, backyard composting is only allowed in residential and agricultural districts, and the enclosure…

In the City of Eden Prairie, City Code Section 9.01, Subdivision 7 bars composting on public, commercial, office, or…

Minneapolis caps backyard compost piles at 15 cubic yards, requires an enclosed, durable container, and sets placement…

In the City of Plymouth, City Code Section 600.22 allows composting yard and organic waste only on properties with a…

Ramsey County supports backyard composting and runs free yard-waste and organics drop-off sites for residents. The…

Saint Paul lets residents compost on their own property, but Legislative Code Sec. 357.08 caps the bin at 100 cubic…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, backyard compost structures and neatly stacked firewood are allowed as accessory…

Backyard compost piles are allowed in every zoning district in unincorporated Olmsted County as an accessory use, with…

Washington County lets residents run a backyard compost pile without a county license, but caps its size at ten cubic…