Landscaping Rules in New Jersey (2026)

Elizabeth requires a written permit from the department of public works before anyone cuts, prunes, trims, breaks…

Trimming or removing a tree that sits within or overhangs an Atlantic County road right-of-way requires a written…

Bergenfield property owners and tenants must keep tree branches, hedges and other plant life along a public sidewalk…

Cherry Hill Township property owners must care for every tree on their land out to the curb line, and the Director of…

Clifton requires plant life growing within 10 feet of any street or within 50 feet of an intersection or rail crossing…

Owners of property fronting a Township-planted street tree must trim overhanging branches to keep 15 feet of clearance…

Galloway Township requires owners/tenants to cut brush, hedges and other plant life within 10 feet of a roadway (and 25…

Hamilton Township makes property owners responsible for cutting back trees, shrubs, and hedges within 10 feet of any…

Cutting, trimming, pruning, breaking, or sawing any part of a Jersey City tree requires a Division of Forestry permit…

Lakewood Township requires anyone operating a tree cutting, trimming, spraying or removal business within its borders…

Newark requires written permission from the Director of Public Works before anyone trims, cuts, or prunes a tree on a…

Village of Ridgewood Code § 190-119E requires every homeowner in a residential zone to keep tree branches trimmed to a…

Toms River property owners must prune any tree overhanging a street or sidewalk to keep at least eight feet of…

When limbs or branches hang over a Trenton street or sidewalk and interfere with free passage, the Department of…

Hackensack's zoning code requires street trees to be trimmed and maintained so they provide at least seven feet of…

Essex County bans damaging, cutting, transplanting or removing any tree or plant across its county park system…

Mercer County makes it illegal to cut, dig up, or remove trees, shrubs, or turf on county-owned property such as parks…

Brick Township requires a Shade Tree Commission or Engineering Department permit before cutting, removing, or killing…

Burlington County's Parks System Rules and Regulations flatly prohibit cutting, digging up, or removing any vegetation…

Removing, cutting or trimming more than 30% of any tree five inches or greater in diameter anywhere in Cherry Hill…

Clifton requires a permit before cutting down any tree four inches or more in caliper or clearing a site, with fees…

Elizabeth requires anyone removing a street tree of 2.5 inches DBH or more, or six or more trees at 6 inches DBH per…

Hamilton Code § 550-117 requires written Township approval before removing any tree with a trunk 4 inches or more in…

Jersey City's Chapter 321 bars anyone from damaging, girdling, or cutting a City tree's canopy, requires a Division of…

Long Branch requires a Tree Removal Application before cutting down any street tree 2.5 inches DBH or larger, or any…

Removing a street tree with a trunk 2.5 inches or wider in Passaic triggers the city's Tree Replacement Requirements…

Toms River Township requires a permit before cutting, removing, or destroying any tree in the township under its…

Removing a Trenton street tree of 2.5 inches DBH or a non-street tree of 6 inches DBH requires a City permit and…

Nobody may cut, remove, kill or otherwise damage a tree standing in a Woodbridge street or public way without a permit…

In Bergenfield, cutting, removing, trimming or otherwise disturbing any tree or shrub standing on a public street…

Camden County has no tree-removal permit for private land, that sits with your municipality, but inside its own parks…

Trees removed in Edison must be replaced under a size-based formula scaled to the percentage or diameter of trees…

Freehold Township bars injuring, girdling, removing or destroying any tree, defined as a woody perennial four inches or…

Galloway Township requires a tree removal and protection permit for tree removal tied to subdivisions and site plans…

Hackensack folds tree removal into whatever site-plan, building or subdivision permit already covers the property, but…

Irvington requires a written permit from the Division of Public Property before anyone cuts, trims or removes a shade…

Removing any tree 10 inches or more in trunk diameter in Lakewood Township requires a tree removal permit from the…

Linden requires a tree removal permit under City Code § 20-3 before anyone cuts, destroys, removes or trims more than…

Removing, killing or destroying a tree on a Newark public street, in a city park, or on private property requires a…

Removing a Paterson street tree of 2.5 inches DBH or larger, or a private tree above the threshold, triggers a…

Beyond the bare permit requirement, Village of Ridgewood Code Secs. 260-9 and 260-10 spell out what a tree removal…

Atlantic County's Public Health Nuisance Code, adopted from the 1953 New Jersey model code, declares the growth of…

Bergenfield's Property Maintenance Code caps weeds and plant growth at eight inches on every maintained lot. Section…

Brick Township requires owners to keep bushes, hedges, and plant life within 10 feet of any street trimmed to no more…

Cherry Hill Township caps weeds and other plant growth at ten inches on any improved or unimproved lot. Property…

Clifton caps brush, weeds and uncut grass at six inches on any lot in the City. Once growth exceeds that height, the…

Edison Township requires property owners and tenants to remove weeds, brush, dead trees, stumps and debris within ten…

Elizabeth prohibits letting brush, weeds, or obnoxious growths accumulate on any property when it creates a health…

Freehold Township caps brush, hedges, and other plant growth within 10 feet of any roadway, and within 25 feet of a…

On residential premises (other than multifamily), Galloway Township prohibits weeds or plant growth exceeding 10…

Hackensack requires owners and tenants to keep brush, hedges and other plant life trimmed to no more than three feet…

Hamilton caps grass and weed growth at 10 inches on any residential property covered by its housing code. Section…

Township Code Section 439-28 declares ragweed, goldenrod, poison ivy, poison sumac and other noxious or poisonous weeds…

Jersey City declares ragweed, poison ivy, high weeds and overgrown brush and grass a public nuisance on any lot…

Every owner, tenant, or person in possession of land in Lakewood Township, whether built on or not, must keep it free…

Linden's business property maintenance code caps weeds and grass at five inches on nonresidential premises, treating…

Long Branch requires every property owner or tenant to keep grass cut to no more than 12 inches, on any property in the…

Newark does not set a fixed inch limit on grass or weeds. Instead, owners and tenants of land bordering public…

Passaic's property maintenance code requires owners and operators to keep the exterior of every property free of brush…

Paterson can order any lot, yard or land cleared of brush, weeds or debris a municipal officer finds inimical to public…

Village of Ridgewood Code § 223-59A caps weeds and plant growth on every property at 10 inches and bans poison ivy…

Toms River Township can order owners to clear brush, weeds, high grass, and debris within seven days of notice, then…

Trenton does not set a specific inch or foot height limit on lawn grass, but Chapter 38 declares the growth of noxious…

Woodbridge property owners and tenants must remove brush, weeds and debris once it becomes a health, safety or fire…

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection may impose statewide or regional water use restrictions during drought…

When the Mayor declares a water emergency, Jersey City can ban all outside watering of lawns and plants or limit it to…

Once Newark's Mayor or the Governor declares a water emergency, the Newark Water Conservation Ordinance bans watering…

Ridgewood Water restricts lawn irrigation year round to two fixed days a week set by whether an address is odd or even…

Toms River Township restricts lawn and yard watering only when the Township Council formally declares a water emergency…

Bergenfield's water conservation ordinance sets a permanent odd/even hand-held-hose watering schedule for a declared…

Brick Township has no standing watering-day schedule; lawn sprinkling limits only kick in once the BTMUA or Township…

Elizabeth has no standing lawn-watering schedule; instead, the mayor can declare a water emergency by executive order…

Lakewood Township only imposes outdoor watering rules once the Mayor declares a water emergency under Code § 16-6.1…

Woodbridge has no year-round watering-day schedule. Outdoor irrigation limits only take effect after the Municipal…

Linden has no standing watering schedule, but once the City Council declares a water emergency under City Code §…

New Jersey's statewide stormwater rule, N.J.A.C. 7:8, requires major developments to manage runoff with green…

Newark's zoning code requires wholesale, warehousing, and distribution facilities to install a rainwater capture and…

Toms River Township lets small nonresidential redevelopment projects skip full major-development stormwater review by…

Long Branch's West End Design Overlay (WEDO) District landscape standard calls for passive rainwater harvesting…

Bergenfield's water conservation ordinance exempts outdoor water drawn from rain harvesting, such as rain barrels, from…

Paterson's stormwater code lists cisterns as an approved green infrastructure practice for major development, crediting…

In the West End Design Overlay (WEDO) District, Long Branch requires landscape plans for infill development to…

Newark's vacant-property maintenance code lists artificial turf or sod as an acceptable way to cover the front, side…

Paterson's code names artificial turf/sod as acceptable yard ground cover, but only inside the maintenance duty owners…

Brick Township's vacant-property code names artificial turf or sod as acceptable ground cover for registered vacant and…

Linden's property maintenance code lists artificial turf or sod as an acceptable yard ground cover for vacant and…

Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged. The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MCMUA) runs two…

Newark allows composting as an accessory use on every residential lot, but Section 41:4-6-5 caps any compost area at…

Clifton hands out free compost, mulch and topsoil to residents at the City Hall Complex whenever supply is available…

Edison Township exempts a compost pile free of discarded foodstuffs from the property maintenance code's refuse…

Paterson lets residents compost leaves, grass clippings, brush and tree limbs on their own property instead of setting…