Landscaping Rules in Missouri (2026)

You may prune trees on your own Clay County property freely. Trees in the public right-of-way belong to the city…

Columbia, Missouri property owners must keep tree limbs at least 14 feet above the traveled portion of adjoining…

Florissant requires eight feet of clearance over sidewalks and eleven feet over streets for overhanging tree and shrub…

Independence, Missouri authorizes the Telephone Utility to trim trees that overhang streets, alleys, sidewalks, and…

Trees and foliage at Jefferson County intersections and driveways must be trimmed so nothing blocks the view between 3…

Kansas City requires property owners to trim shade and ornamental trees along their street or sidewalk frontage so…

Lee's Summit's Property Maintenance Code requires owners to treat, prune or remove any dead, dying or diseased tree, or…

O'Fallon makes it a nuisance to let trees, shrubs or other vegetation block the view at a street intersection: nothing…

Springfield, Missouri bars property owners from letting trees overhang public streets or sidewalks below a set…

St. Louis requires trees, shrubs and plants citywide to be kept clear of streets, sidewalks, traffic signs and…

New trees may not be planted on a St. Louis County right-of-way between the sidewalk and the curb (SLCRO §1218.140)…

Florissant requires a permit from the Director of Public Works before anyone trims, removes or otherwise disturbs a…

Clearing significant trees or trees of 10-inch caliper or larger on a development site in unincorporated Jefferson…

Removing a street tree in Kirkwood's right-of-way is not a homeowner's call. Section 24-3 requires a permit to remove…

In Columbia, Missouri, clearing or logging trees 4 inches DBH or larger on tracts of one acre or more requires a land…

Independence requires a tree preservation plan for new development and only lets the Community Development Department…

Kansas City requires a tree preservation and protection plan before permits for land disturbance of one acre or more…

Lee's Summit Code Section 30-51 lets the Director of Development Services order removal of any dead or diseased tree or…

O'Fallon bars clearing more than 25% of the trees on a parcel ahead of development, and once a site plan is filed, at…

Springfield's Land Development Code requires temporary fencing around the root zone of any tree credited for…

New residential subdivisions in unincorporated St. Charles County must preserve a set share of existing trees and…

Removing a tree from City-owned land or the street right-of-way requires a 'permit to maintain' from the Forestry…

Removing a tree on your own Clay County land needs no permit; Missouri has no statewide tree-protection law. But trees…

St. Louis County's Property Maintenance Code does not require removal of tree stumps after a tree is cut, so leaving a…

Missouri law makes every landowner responsible for controlling noxious weeds. RSMo §263.190.2 requires owners…

Overgrown weeds are a nuisance in Clay County. Unincorporated land falls under RSMo 67.398 (seven-inch threshold)…

Columbia, Missouri caps turf grass and weeds at 12 inches on any lawn or yard in Boone County; taller growth is a…

Florissant caps weeds and grass at eight inches under City Code § 213.070. Anyone who lets weeds grow taller than eight…

Unincorporated Greene County limits grass, weeds, brush, and other rank vegetation to 12 inches in R, C, and M…

Independence's property maintenance code caps weeds and grass at 7 inches on improved lots, bans noxious weeds…

Jackson County caps grass and weeds at 15 inches on platted lots in unincorporated areas; taller growth is a declared…

Jefferson County's Public Nuisance Ordinance declares any noxious weed or tall grass, defined as vegetation twenty…

Kansas City caps weeds and turf grass at 10 inches on any premises, occupied or vacant; taller growth is a nuisance…

Kirkwood caps grass and weeds on private property at seven inches under Code § 16-2(i). Anything taller, including…

Lee's Summit caps weeds and plant growth on any lot at 10 inches under Property Maintenance Code Sec. 16-203. The city…

O'Fallon caps weeds, brush and grass at eight inches tall on any improved lot with a building or structure, and the…

Springfield, Missouri (Greene County) bans grass, weeds, brush, or rank vegetation over seven inches tall on any lot in…

St. Charles County caps weeds and grass on developed lots at 10 inches, with noxious weeds banned outright regardless…

St. Louis declares weeds and unattended vegetation over seven inches tall a public nuisance. The Forestry Commissioner…

St. Louis County caps unmanaged grass, weeds and brush at 8 inches on most improved lots. Section 619.005(l) defines…

During a declared water supply emergency, Kirkwood cuts outdoor watering to protect the system. A Level I alert limits…

When drought or low system pressure threatens the water supply, the Mayor can issue a water emergency proclamation…

O'Fallon's Water Conservation Plan lets the City order mandatory lawn-watering restrictions once a drought or shortage…

Springfield, Missouri's City Utilities can declare watering-day restrictions by street-address parity once a water…

Columbia, Missouri has no standing lawn-watering schedule: irrigation restrictions kick in only when the city manager…

Missouri statute guarantees every landowner the right to collect, use, and own rainwater systems anywhere on their…

St. Louis homeowners in one- and two-family dwellings can install a rainwater collection tank up to 65 gallons, or…

Kansas City lets rain barrels and cisterns up to 5 feet tall sit inside required front, side, and rear yard setbacks…

Lee's Summit exempts approved native-plant landscaping from its rank-weed rules. Sec. 30-36 lets a property owner…

Springfield's landscaping code requires that trees planted to meet its zoning requirements come from species common to…

Developments that must file a landscape plan with St. Louis County have to make at least half of it native or…

Cass County's Zoning Order asks landowners stabilizing exposed soil after construction to use native plants wherever…

Kansas City exempts intentionally maintained "managed natural landscapes" from its 10-inch vegetation-height nuisance…

O'Fallon's eight-inch mowing rule doesn't apply to unimproved land over two acres kept as natural forest or native…

Columbia, Missouri exempts managed native landscapes from its 12-inch mowing rule if the yard controls invasive plants…

Kirkwood's landscaping code encourages using and maintaining native plant materials on new development sites, per §…

Yard waste composting facilities that produce compost for resale run only as a conditional use in Jefferson County's…

Kansas City caps residential composting to three bins, or windrows under 150 square feet and 49 inches tall on lots…

Kirkwood limits compost piles to five feet in height and caps their footprint by lot size, from 100 to 400 square feet…

Lee's Summit allows residential composting under Sec. 16-216, but caps each bin at 150 cubic feet per 10,000 square…

St. Charles County lets residents compost yard waste on their own property without a permit, but Code § 240.1401 sets…

Independence's property maintenance code lets residents keep a compost pile without violating exterior-sanitation…

Cass County's stream buffer rule expressly promotes gardening and compost piles in the Outer Zone, the buffer band…

Florissant's Code of Ordinances doesn't regulate composting directly, but § 220.010 carves compost out of the…

Composting yard waste on your own unincorporated Jackson County property needs no permit: the county's zoning code…

St. Louis encourages residents to mulch or compost grass clippings and yard waste at home instead of using city refuse…

St. Louis County Code §607.1005 lets residents compost organic material at home, with one placement rule and one…