Landscaping Rules in Virginia (2026)

Cutting, trimming or spraying a tree or shrub that stands on a Hampton street requires a public works permit, issued…

Alexandria property owners must trim trees, shrubs and other vegetation that overhangs or interferes with a public…

Arlington County requires every property owner or occupant to cut back trees, hedges, shrubs, vines and other…

Chesapeake requires a permit before anyone cuts, trims or sprays a tree or shrub growing in a public street, defined…

Chesterfield bars property owners from letting a hedge, shrub or tree branch overhang a street, sidewalk or public…

Ordinary trimming of your own trees is not regulated in Henrico. Routine and seasonal pruning is expressly exempt from…

Lynchburg requires owners and occupants of property bordering a street to prune overhanging trees, shrubs and…

Any utility company trimming a tree, shrub or other planting on Newport News city property, including street trees and…

A Norfolk tree or shrub that blocks pedestrian or vehicle traffic, or blocks sight lines in a visibility triangle, is a…

Portsmouth property owners and occupants must keep bushes, shrubs, trees, and other plants trimmed so nothing overhangs…

Richmond regulates tree trimming for street trees and trees in public rights-of-way. Homeowners may trim branches…

Cutting, trimming or spraying trees or shrubs on, under or over a city street requires a permit, and vegetation…

Any Virginia locality may require tree replacement during land development under Section 15.2-961, but broader…

The City of Fairfax has a strong tree preservation program under its tree conservation ordinance. Removal of…

Norfolk requires permits to remove any tree in the public right-of-way, Chesapeake Bay buffer, or protected canopy…

Arlington County Code § 67-5 makes it unlawful to destroy, cut down, or injure a tree or shrub on a public…

Once a tree in Fairfax County is designated heritage, memorial, specimen or street tree, it can only be removed with…

Once the Board of Supervisors designates a tree as heritage, specimen, memorial or street under chapter 22.5, removing…

Removing, pruning, cutting, or damaging any tree or shrub on city-owned property in Portsmouth requires a written…

Prince William County requires an undisturbed 100-foot vegetated buffer along every perennial stream, tidal wetland and…

Inside Spotsylvania County's 100-foot Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area buffer, existing trees and other…

Outside the Rural Areas district, Albemarle County limits tree removal to dead trees or trees under six inches in…

Alexandria requires new residential construction that needs a grading plan to preserve or replant enough trees to reach…

Chesapeake requires a permit before anyone cuts, trims or sprays a tree or shrub growing on a city street. Sec. 66-106…

Chesterfield requires tree preservation, not homeowner tree permits. During subdivision or site development, plans must…

On Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act land-disturbing sites and O-CBP zoned properties, Hampton requires trees in…

A tree removal permit is required before removing a 'protected tree' on regulated development in Henrico, but…

Herndon protects trees through zoning-based tree canopy requirements and limited restrictions on heritage and specimen…

Nonresidential projects inside Loudoun's Mountainside Overlay District must submit a Tree Cover Inventory, Tree…

Removing a tree from a Lynchburg treelawn, the strip between the sidewalk and street, requires a permit application…

Removing, cutting, girdling or otherwise destroying a tree, shrub or other planting on Newport News city property takes…

Richmond Chapter 41 (Trees) requires permits to remove trees in the public right-of-way, on city property, and within…

Anyone other than a city employee needs a permit from the city manager before cutting, pruning, or removing a tree or…

In Roanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem), removing a tree of 24 inches or more…

Stafford County requires 14 days' advance written notice to the county administrator before removing, relocating or…

Suffolk site plans must plant or replace trees so canopy reaches at least 10% to 20% ten years after planting, scaled…

New residential development in Virginia Beach must plant trees or provide canopy cover scaled to lot size, protect…

Virginia doesn't set a statewide grass-height limit. Instead, Va. Code § 15.2-901 lets every city, county, and town…

Albemarle County caps grass, weeds, brush and other uncontrolled vegetation at 12 inches on vacant developed property…

Alexandria enforces grass height limits under local ordinance. VA Code §15.2-900 authorizes weed and vegetation removal…

Arlington County caps grass and lawn growth on occupied residential and commercial lots under half an acre at 12…

Chesapeake caps grass and weed growth at an average height of ten inches on lots one acre or smaller, and within 150…

Chesterfield's weed ordinance requires grass and weeds to be kept under 12 inches at occupied dwellings and 18 inches…

The City of Fairfax requires grass, weeds, and rank vegetation on residential and commercial properties be kept under…

Fairfax County caps grass and lawn growth on developed residential parcels under half an acre at 12 inches, with the…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, Section 122-5 bans grass, weeds and foreign…

Grass, weeds and other foreign growth on Hampton property can't exceed 8 inches within 150 feet of a residential or…

In the suburban service area of Hanover County outside the Town of Ashland, grass or weeds may not exceed fifteen…

Henrico County caps grass and weeds at 12 inches on developed property within 150 feet of adjacent property and public…

Herndon requires property owners to keep grass and weeds cut to a reasonable height, generally not exceeding 12 inches…

Loudoun County declares Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) a public nuisance under Codified Ordinances Chapter 690…

Lynchburg's weed control ordinance defines "weeds" as any grass or other vegetation over 12 inches tall, excluding…

Weeds over fifteen inches tall on a parcel are a public nuisance in Montgomery County outside Blacksburg and…

Newport News caps grass and weeds at ten inches within 150 feet of any building under section 13-150(a), and treats…

Norfolk treats grass, weeds, and other vegetable matter over 12 inches tall as a nuisance under City Code § 27-2(c)…

Portsmouth caps grass and weeds at 10 inches within 300 feet of any building or road. City Code § 23-26(a) declares…

Prince William County caps weeds and grass at 12 inches on any residential lot under two acres, and within 150 feet of…

Richmond makes it unlawful for anyone who owns or occupies property to let grass, weeds, or other vegetation grow 12…

Roanoke caps weeds and grass at ten inches on any parcel before they become a public nuisance under City Code Sec…

In Roanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem), owners of occupied residential…

Spotsylvania County caps grass and lawn growth on occupied residential lots under one-half acre at twelve inches under…

Stafford County caps grass, weeds, and other foreign growth at six inches on vacant lots under § 24-17 and at twelve…

Suffolk's Chapter 34, Article IV bans weeds, foreign growth, and running bamboo over 10 inches on occupied and vacant…

Vienna requires grass and weeds on developed residential lots to be kept below a maximum height, typically 12 inches…

Virginia Beach bars grass, weeds, or brush over 10 inches tall on any property, including the strip out to the curb…

The State Water Control Board administers statewide drought response and surface water withdrawal permits, with…

Arlington County Code Ch. 38.1 lets the County Manager order mandatory watering cutbacks once the County Board declares…

During a drought warning in Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, lawn and landscape…

When Henrico declares mandatory public water restrictions, County Code § 23-265 sets a strict odd/even watering…

When the city manager declares a Stage 2 water emergency, Lynchburg bans watering lawns, shrubs and other outdoor…

Portsmouth's code gives the city broad, standing authority to restrict water use during emergencies. There is no…

Virginia Beach has no standing odd/even watering schedule. But once city council declares a water-supply emergency, the…

Albemarle County has no standing lawn-watering schedule, but County Code § 16-500 lets the Board of Supervisors and the…

Chesterfield County assigns landscape watering to three fixed days a week by street address once the director declares…

When the county administrator declares mandatory water conservation for the Hanover Suburban Water System, established…

Loudoun County's Water Supply Emergency Ordinance lets the County Administrator set mandatory outdoor watering days…

Once Newport News declares a Stage 2 drought warning, watering lawns, shrubbery, trees, or other vegetation with city…

Norfolk's city manager can declare a water shortage in the city's water system and impose escalating conservation…

Prince William County has no year-round watering schedule, but once the Board of County Supervisors declares a water…

When Richmond declares mandatory water conservation measures under Code Sec. 28-885, established landscape watering is…

Spotsylvania County restricts outdoor watering, car washing, pool filling and other nonessential uses once the county…

Stafford County only restricts irrigation and other nonessential water use once the board of supervisors declares a…

Chesapeake does not run a watering-day or time-of-day irrigation schedule. Its only lawn-watering restriction is a flat…

Fairfax County sets no routine lawn-watering schedule. Chapter 113 of the County Code restricts outdoor watering only…

Suffolk has no year-round watering schedule. Outdoor water limits switch on only when the city manager declares a…

Virginia encourages rainwater harvesting and graywater reuse: outdoor rain-barrel collection is essentially…

Inside Loudoun County's Limestone Overlay District, Zoning Ordinance § 5.05.F.I bans irrigation systems fed by…

Norfolk cuts a residential property owner's stormwater management fee by 10 percent for installing and maintaining rain…

Spotsylvania County's Mixed Use (MU) zoning district lets a rainwater collection or harvesting system extend into a…

Arlington County does not restrict rainwater harvesting; instead it rewards it. Under Code § 26-122, single-family and…

Fairfax County's stormwater ordinance encourages rainwater and stormwater harvesting for irrigation, fire protection…

Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown does not regulate or require permits for rainwater…

Albemarle County exempts an approved "natural landscaping" plan built on at least 80 percent native plants from its…

Hanover County's RC Rural Conservation District requires native species to predominate on the landscaping plans…

Henrico does not require native plants in ordinary yards, but land inside a Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area…

Loudoun County's Zoning Ordinance requires that at least 80% of the plant units in a required landscape buffer or road…

Prince William County actively favors native trees and woodland conservation in its landscaping standards. Development…

In Roanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem), the zoning ordinance requires at…

Arlington County's grass-cutting law does not reach native plant gardens, meadow vegetation or conservation…

Montgomery County's weed and trash ordinance does not reach land kept under an approved natural-landscaping plan. A…

Stafford County's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area ordinance names synthetic turf as an accessory yard use, grouping it…

Fairfax County zoning bars residential composting from the front yard entirely, even on the large lots where other…

Loudoun County exempts small-scale yard-waste composting from its solid-waste facility permit rules: a property owner…

Prince William County allows residents and farms to compost yard trimmings on their own property without a permit, so…

In Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown, Section 142-6(E) protects household composting…

Hanover County's code does not regulate household composting as solid waste. Chapter 26's zoning definition of 'trash,'…