Landscaping Rules in South Carolina (2026)

Charleston bars anyone from cutting, pruning, breaking, climbing on, or removing a tree or ornamental shrub standing in…

Aiken County limits how contractors may prune protected trees on commercial and multifamily sites in its Highway…

You do not need a permit for light pruning, but in unincorporated Charleston County heavy pruning of a Grand Tree…

Columbia's public services director can cut or remove any tree, shrub, bush, or weed overhanging a street or sidewalk…

You may prune your own trees in Dorchester County, but the county tree ordinance still protects non-pine Grand trees…

Greenville County has no general ordinance requiring a permit to prune trees on your own private lot. County tree…

Horry County does not require a permit to prune most private trees, but it is unlawful to injure a Specimen Live Oak…

Lexington County Code § 14-131(2)d bars topping or canopy reduction of trees required under the county's Landscape and…

Pageland's code makes tree trimmers responsible for their own mess: anyone cutting, trimming or digging near a street…

Rock Hill requires every property owner or occupant to keep the trees, shrubs, and other woody plants on their land…

Simpsonville can require owners to trim trees in two situations: damaged or diseased tree limbs that threaten public…

In the City of Spartanburg, all tree pruning must follow National Arborist Association shade-tree standards, and…

York County requires trees preserved or planted to satisfy its tree-canopy ordinance to be pruned only to ANSI A300…

It is unlawful in Horry County to remove a Specimen Live Oak with a trunk 24 inches DBH or greater without…

Aiken County bars removal of 'significant' or 'grand' trees from the protected setback, buffer and open-space areas of…

Beaufort County requires a Tree Removal Permit before cutting, relocating, or substantially altering a protected tree…

On private land, Charleston bars removing, relocating or damaging any 'grand tree,' 24 inches or more in diameter…

North Charleston requires a permit before cutting down any protected tree ten inches or more in diameter at breast…

Rock Hill requires a permit before anyone removes, alters, or treats a 'public tree,' meaning a street tree or a tree…

Berkeley County requires a permit before removing any protected or specimen tree within a required bufferyard in the…

Unincorporated Charleston County requires a permit before removing protected trees. Grand Trees (24-inch-plus diameter…

Columbia's Unified Development Ordinance requires a Tree Removal Permit under Sec. 17-2.5(m) before cutting…

Dorchester County requires a Tree Removal Permit from the Zoning Administrator to destroy any Protected tree. Even an…

Greenville County requires no tree-removal permit for a homeowner clearing trees on an established residential lot. The…

Removing a protected trophy tree in Lexington County triggers mandatory mitigation planting at a 3-to-1 diameter ratio…

A homeowner can remove trees on their own single-family lot without a county permit. On land being developed, Richland…

Removing a tree with a trunk 12 inches or larger (measured at breast height) requires a Tree Removal Permit from the…

Spartanburg County requires no permit to remove trees on private residential land. The City of Spartanburg protects…

When a grand tree is removed during development in unincorporated York County, Section 154.200 requires mitigation…

Anderson County bans weeds and rank vegetation over 12 inches tall within 200 feet of a platted subdivision or…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances § 38-33 requires owners of improved residential or commercial property in the…

Berkeley County Code § 23.3.1 makes it unlawful to let grass, weeds, or undergrowth accumulate on any lot, occupied or…

Charleston caps weeds and other plant growth on any property's exterior at 12 inches on average under the city's…

It is unlawful to permit weeds and rank vegetation to grow on an improved residential or commercial lot in Charleston…

Columbia's Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful for an owner or occupant to let grass, weeds or other overgrowth exceed…

Dorchester County sets no fixed inch limit; overgrown grass, weeds, and undergrowth are abated as nuisances under its…

Greenville County bans unmanaged weeds and rank vegetation on any lot within 200 feet of a platted subdivision or zoned…

In unincorporated Horry County, uncultivated grass and weeds over twelve inches are 'unsightly growth' and a common…

In unincorporated Lancaster County, grass, weeds and undergrowth become an unlawful nuisance under Sec. 22-2 once they…

In Lexington County's Neighborhood Appearance District, residential yards, lawns, and grassed areas must stay evenly…

North Charleston caps grass, weeds and brush at one foot tall on improved lots, declaring taller growth a public…

Pageland bars property owners from letting weeds and grass grow uncut on improved land inside town limits to the point…

In developed parts of unincorporated Richland County, grass or weeds over 12 inches tall, or trailing vines over 10…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bans letting weeds, grass or similar vegetation reach 12 inches or more on any improved…

Owners must keep property free of unsightly growth. Weeds, brush, or undergrowth reaching 18 inches or more, or vines…

Unincorporated Spartanburg County adopted the International Property Maintenance Code and rewrote its…

Unincorporated Sumter County caps weeds and rank vegetation at one foot tall on any lot in a residential zoning…

York County treats overgrown grass and weeds in unincorporated areas as a public nuisance under Chapter 56, acting on…

South Carolina's Drought Response Act establishes a statewide framework for declaring drought stages and implementing…

Charleston has no year-round watering-day schedule. Instead, City Code Sec. 30-211 lets the mayor and the chairman of…

During a declared drought, Columbia's city manager can order residents, including those who irrigate lawns and gardens…

Once Florence County Council declares a severe or extreme drought alert, unincorporated county water customers must…

Lexington County Council can proclaim moderate, severe, or extreme drought and order water-use curtailment for the…

Beaufort County Code of Ordinances §§ 22-58 and 22-59 let the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority curtail…

Dorchester County has no everyday watering calendar, but under the SC Drought Response Act water providers like…

Greenville County has no standing year-round watering schedule. Mandatory outdoor water restrictions come from the…

Once Rock Hill, South Carolina declares a Stage 2 drought, sprinklers and irrigation systems are cut to two days a week…

The City of Simpsonville does not adopt its own lawn-watering-day ordinance. Outdoor water use is governed by your…

South Carolina sets no statewide lawn-watering ban. In York County, restrictions come from your water provider and the…

In Charleston's Upper Peninsula District, buildings seeking a height or density bonus can earn stormwater management…

Columbia's Unified Development Ordinance does not mandate rain barrels or cisterns outright, but new development…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code lists rain barrels and cisterns as approved stormwater best management…

Rock Hill, South Carolina does not restrict harvesting rainwater. The city's stormwater ordinance expressly lists…

York County's land development code names cisterns and rain barrels as an approved Low Impact Development technique…

Beaufort County's Community Development Code pushes new landscaping toward native, drought-tolerant plants countywide…

Greenville County has no ordinance restricting native or naturalized landscaping on a private lot, as long as the yard…

Richland County does not require homeowners to plant native species, but its Land Development Code favors them: on…

Simpsonville's Zoning Ordinance encourages native, local vegetation and discourages listed invasive trees such as Tree…

Spartanburg County does not mandate native landscaping. The City of Spartanburg publishes an official approved…

Charleston's Upper Peninsula District requires that any outdoor public space built to earn a height or density bonus…

Columbia exempts a planned and managed naturalistic landscape designed for pollinators, birds and wildlife from the…

Simpsonville's Zoning Ordinance prohibits artificial or synthetic plant materials from being used to satisfy required…

Backyard composting is allowed in Greenville County; there is no ordinance banning home compost piles. Composting must…

Simpsonville has no ordinance specifically permitting or banning backyard composting. Home composting is generally…

Columbia does not mandate curbside or backyard composting, but new residential development covered by the city's green…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance treats composting as an accessory use tied to community, private, or institutional…

Charleston encourages home composting of leaves and grass as an alternative to curbside disposal but does not require…