HOA Landscaping Rules

Landscaping notices are about dead grass, unapproved rock, a tree the association wants removed, or a yard the declaration says you must maintain even though it looks like common area. The first step is the map. If the strip is a common-area easement the association maintains, the notice should never have come to you. If it is your lot, the maintenance duty is probably yours even when mowing it feels like a favor to the neighborhood.

Drought changes the argument. When a public agency restricts irrigation, “keep it green” cannot mean “break the watering rule.” Write the association, cite the order, and propose the replacement the documents allow: native plants, mulch, or whatever the guidelines already list. If the guidelines only allow turf, ask for a temporary variance for the length of the restriction. Some state statutes go further and limit an association’s power to ban drought-tolerant yards. California and Texas both have versions of that idea in their codes. Read the current section rather than assuming the version you remember.

A fine for weeds still needs the notice and hearing your state requires. Cure what you can, photograph it, and send the photo with the date. Boards drop a lot of landscaping fines when the cure arrives before the hearing.