Landscaping Rules in New York (2026)

Town of Islip Code Chapter 57 (Trees) bars anyone from cutting, damaging, or removing any tree on public or private…

All street and park trees in New York City are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation…

Albany requires an 8-foot clearance above streets and sidewalks for overhanging tree branches, and the City prunes to…

Amherst Town Code puts the pruning duty on the property owner: any tree overhanging a street or right-of-way must be…

When a tree on private property in Buffalo turns diseased, dead or otherwise hazardous, City Code § 309-32 lets the…

At Clarkstown street corners, tree limbs and foliage cannot hang lower than eight feet within the sight-triangle area…

Property owners fronting a Glen Cove street or public place must trim or remove a tree when the Director of Public…

No one but the Town Commissioner of Public Works or an authorized agent may trim, prune, cable, brace or spray a tree…

Utilities trimming trees along Greenburgh's power line rights-of-way must follow National Arbor Day Foundation…

Owners, tenants, and other occupants in the Town of Hempstead's unincorporated area must keep trees near their property…

Huntington makes it the property owner's job to keep trees, shrubs and woodland from blocking sight lines and passage…

Mount Vernon requires a written Department of Public Works permit before anyone trims a tree on public property, and…

Nassau County's Department of Public Works can order owners of property abutting county roads to prune or remove trees…

New Rochelle owners must trim any tree, bush, or vegetation overhanging a public highway or public place so the lowest…

The City of Oneida, Madison County, New York requires property owners bordering a street to prune overhanging trees to…

At every street intersection in unincorporated Ramapo, § 376-51C bars tree limbs and foliage from hanging lower than…

If a private tree overhangs a Schenectady street and endangers public safety, the Superintendent of Parks can declare…

Smithtown property owners must trim broken or decayed limbs and take down dead, dying, blown-over, leaning…

In Syracuse, a utility company cannot send crews to cut back trees for overhead power-line clearance without a written…

You may not trim a City of Utica street or public-place tree yourself. Only City staff, or a permitted, qualified…

Property owners whose trees overhang a Yonkers street or sidewalk must keep the branches trimmed to a minimum 15 feet…

Oyster Bay hands trimming of trees overhanging its public streets to the utility companies themselves: any utility…

Removing a street or park tree in New York City requires the written consent of the Parks Commissioner under…

In Albany, only the Department of General Services or a permit holder may cut, prune, plant, move, or remove any tree…

Clearing trees or vegetation from private or public property in the Town of Babylon requires a land clearing permit, a…

Buffalo protects every tree in its streets, parks, and the strip between sidewalk and curb. No one may cut, remove…

Cheektowaga requires a Building Inspector permit before removing or destroying any tree on land in the town, with…

Clarkstown requires a tree removal permit from the Department of Engineering and Facilities Management before cutting…

Greenburgh requires a tree removal permit before you cut, top, injure or kill any tree over eight inches in diameter at…

Outside its incorporated villages, the Town of Hempstead bars anyone from destroying, removing, or substantially…

Removing, destroying, or substantially altering any Landmark, Large, or Medium tree, or more than three Small Trees or…

In North Hempstead, removing, destroying or fatally harming any tree six inches or more in diameter in a front yard…

In Rochester, no one may plant, cut down, trim, prune, spray, or injure any tree in a public street or place without…

Smithtown makes it unlawful to remove, destroy or substantially alter the habit of any tree over three inches in…

Syracuse bars anyone from cutting down, trimming, or damaging a street tree in a city right-of-way or public place…

Westchester County prohibits destroying, cutting or removing any tree, shrub or plant on county-owned property…

Cutting, removing, or even climbing a tree in any Yonkers public highway or public place is unlawful without a written…

Amherst requires a tree removal permit from the Commissioner of Building before anyone cuts down, kills or destroys a…

Brookhaven requires a permit before removing or destroying any tree on a commercial or industrial parcel of any size…

In Town of Colonie subdivisions, no live tree over three inches in diameter may be cut down in areas the Planning Board…

Cutting down any private tree of 8 inches or more in diameter in Glen Cove requires a Tree Commission permit issued…

Only the Commissioner of Public Works may prune, cut down, remove or destroy a tree standing in a Greece Town highway…

The Town of Islip prohibits cutting, damaging, carving, digging, or removing any tree, living or dead, standing or…

Removing most trees in Mount Vernon requires a Department of Public Works permit: the owner applies at least 20…

Trees, hedges and shrubbery within the right-of-way of a Nassau County road fall under the Department of Public Works…

Removing any tree from a New Rochelle lot of one acre or more, or cutting more than three trees a year (or any specimen…

The City of Oneida, Madison County, New York bars removing a tree from a street tree lawn for construction or any other…

Oyster Bay requires a Department of Parks tree removal permit before cutting down any tree with a trunk 8 inches or…

Removing, cutting, or even climbing any tree standing in a Saratoga Springs street or public place requires a written…

Utica requires written permission from the City Arborist before anyone plants, removes or destroys a tree on a public…

Removing a tree on your own property in Schenectady needs no city permit. Chapter 243 of the City Code reaches only…

Suffolk County has no permit or replacement mandate for residents who remove their own trees. The County Charter…

New York City Health Code section 181.11 flatly bars any owner, occupant, or person in charge of a lot or premises from…

Albany enforces tall-grass and weed complaints under City Code §313-51.1, which requires all properties to be…

Amherst's property maintenance code caps weeds and plant growth on exterior property at 10 inches (254 mm) under §…

On any developed lot in the Town of Babylon, weeds, brush, grass and similar growth can't exceed eight inches: the…

Buffalo requires every property owner to cut down overgrown weeds, grass, brush and other vegetation each year between…

Cheektowaga requires every property owner to cut grass, weeds, brush and plant growth once it exceeds six inches, and…

Clarkstown's property maintenance code caps grass and other ground cover at 10 inches on every privately owned lot…

The Town of Colonie prohibits untended grasses, bushes and vegetation taller than 10 inches. The Building Department…

Glen Cove caps weeds, grass and other rank vegetation at an average height of 12 inches on any lot, occupied or not…

Greece property owners must cut grass, weeds, and brush whenever the growth becomes a nuisance under the Town's…

Greenburgh Town Code makes property owners cut and remove noxious weeds, brush, rank growths and long grass from their…

The Town of Hempstead bans lawns, weeds, grass or brush over eight inches tall on any improved or vacant lot. The…

In Huntington, grass or weeds taller than ten inches on any parcel, improved or vacant, are unlawful under Town Code §…

The Property Maintenance Code of New York State, which the Town of Islip enforces and mirrors in Town Code Chapter 6A…

Monroe County towns enforce weed and overgrown vegetation rules. Rochester Property Conservation Code Ch. 90 requires…

New Rochelle bans letting weeds, grass or other rank vegetation grow past six inches on any lot, occupied or not, from…

Town Code § 28-22A(5) requires every premises and its immediate exterior property to be kept free of weeds or plant…

City of Oneida property owners must keep weeds, grass, brush, and other rank vegetation no higher than eight inches on…

Noxious weeds in Oneida County are regulated under NY Ag & Markets Law Article 14. Property owners must control listed…

The Town of Oyster Bay caps lawns, weeds, grass, brush and other vegetation at eight inches on any improved lot…

Rochester caps grass and weeds at 10 inches. Under Property Conservation Code § 90-14(B), exterior plant growth taller…

Saratoga Springs requires owners and occupants of land along any city street to cut and remove grass and weeds at least…

Syracuse's Property Conservation Code bars weeds or grass over eight inches tall on any premises and bans noxious weeds…

Utica prohibits noxious weeds and weeds/grass over 10 inches on developed property through the adopted NYS Property…

When the county Health Commissioner declares a noxious-weed danger, no Westchester County property owner may allow…

White Plains property maintenance code requires removal of noxious weeds and overgrown vegetation. Owners must control…

Yonkers City Code § 69-1 bars property owners from letting noxious weeds, long grass or rank growths stand. After a…

Orange County doesn't set a blanket lawn-height limit. Article III, Section 2(8)(e) of the Sanitary Code only caps…

Saratoga Springs' Utilities Department reserves the right to restrict or entirely stop any outdoor use of City water…

Glen Cove bans sprinkling, hose use and car washing with city water except between 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and again…

Hempstead Code § 70-53 requires every water customer and private well owner to sprinkle lawns and water gardens only on…

In the Dix Hills Water District, irrigation is limited to odd calendar days for odd-numbered addresses and even days…

Islip residents are served by the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA), which enforces a year-round odd/even…

New York City imposes year-round outdoor water-use rules under 15 RCNY Sec. 20-08. Using a hose, automatic sprinkler…

In the Great Neck North Water Authority service area, North Hempstead bans irrigation systems between 10:00 a.m. and…

Town Code § 180-11 requires automatic underground irrigation systems to run only on the days and times set by the…

Schenectady limits hose-and-sprinkler lawn watering to May 1 through November 1, and no more than four hours a day…

Once the County Executive declares a drought emergency, lawns may be watered only 4 hours a day in early-morning or…

Colonie has no standing day-of-week lawn watering schedule. The Town Board may only restrict sprinkling, irrigation or…

New York City lets homeowners use rain barrels without a permit, but larger on-site rainwater collection and reuse…

North Hempstead's stormwater code allows rain barrels as an approved way to meet on-site rainfall retention rules, but…

Rain barrels, rain gardens and bioswales are permitted accessory uses on both residential and nonresidential lots in…

Albany's zoning ordinance gives rain gardens and rain barrels a setback exception no other accessory feature gets…

In the Town of Babylon's PIP-2 Planned Industrial Park District, all landscaping must use native or low-maintenance…

Every plant installed on a project site in Mount Vernon's MX-1 Commercial Corridor District must be drought tolerant…

Utica does not mandate native plants, and its zoning planting standards allow varied landscaping as long as it's…

In areas influenced by the Albany Pine Bush Preserve within Colonie's Conservation Development Overlay, new commercial…

Rochester's landscaping-plan guidelines direct that plants be suited to the site's climate, geology and topography and…

Broome County has no native-plant mandate. DEC 6 NYCRR Part 575 prohibits sale, transport, and introduction of invasive…

Monroe County municipalities encourage native plantings for stormwater and pollinator habitat. NY DEC Native Plant list…

Native plantings are encouraged by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County (315-736-3394) but not mandated…

Native plantings are encouraged in Orange County NY but not mandated. DEC regulates invasive species under 6 NYCRR Part…

Native and pollinator-friendly plants encouraged in White Plains. No ordinance banning meadow-style lawns, but…

Albany requires household food composting to be kept in weather-tight, rodent-proof containers holding only organic and…

Amherst allows residential composting only as an accessory use, capping each property at three enclosed bins of one…

Brookhaven's zoning code lets residents who keep horses compost manure on-site instead of hauling it away, but only…

City of Oneida property owners can compost at home as long as the material is contained within setback lines, doesn't…

Ulster County requires yard waste kept out of the trash for composting, but its recycling law explicitly protects…

Colonie's Solid Waste chapter does not force residents to bag every leaf and clipping. Section 112-16(G) lets a yard…

Greenburgh's dumping ban carves out one exception: a home gardener may keep a small, inoffensive compost heap on their…

Dutchess County requires yard waste to be kept out of the solid waste stream but does not prohibit residents from…

New Rochelle does not license or regulate home compost bins. Instead, § 163-8.5C of the Recycling Ordinance exempts…

North Hempstead's Sanitation Code carves home composting out of its yard-waste rules. Under Code § 46-14C(3), the…

Rochester's Refuse Code authorizes residents to compost leaves in their own backyard rather than setting them out for…

Rockland County's solid waste law does not ban home composting. Code § 350-8D says the county's yard waste set-out rule…

Yonkers Code § 92-4(E) makes clear that its mandatory recycling law does not stop residents from composting garden and…