HOA lawn rules, state by state

Two layers, always

Two states worth knowing in detail

General advice about covenants is less useful than a worked example, so here are two states whose statutes are specific enough to quote to a board. Neither is a template for the other, and neither removes an association’s right to set standards.

Texas. Property Code section 202.007 says a property owners association may not include or enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or restricts an owner from using drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf, and a provision that violates it is void. That last point matters more than people expect: it applies regardless of when the covenants were written, so an older CC&R does not survive on seniority. The statute still lets an association ask for a description or plan to be submitted for review, but subsection (d-1) bars it from unreasonably withholding approval or unreasonably deciding that a water-conserving design is aesthetically incompatible with the rest of the subdivision. In practice, that subsection is what stops a board approving xeriscaping in principle and rejecting every actual plan on appearance grounds.

Colorado. Senate Bill 23-178, signed in May 2023, amended the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act at C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5. An association may not prohibit xeriscape, non-vegetative turf grass or drought-tolerant landscapes as ground cover on property the owner is responsible for. Where an association does set guidelines, it may not unreasonably require hardscape on more than 20 percent of the landscaped area, must allow an option of at least 80 percent drought-tolerant plantings, and may not ban vegetable gardens. It must also adopt at least three pre-approved water-wise garden designs. The law applies to detached single-family homes rather than to condominiums or units sharing a wall, which is the limit most often missed when it is quoted second-hand.

What these laws do not do

Protection of the planting is not exemption from the standard. In both states an association keeps the right to require that a yard be maintained, edged and free of weeds, and to run a design review process before work begins. The common failure is not a legal one: an owner installs a meadow, lets it go over in the first summer while it establishes, and receives a maintenance citation that would stand up regardless of the statute. A neat edge, a defined border and an obvious intent to maintain remove most of the friction before it starts.

Laws in this area are also moving quickly, and bills are frequently reported as though they had passed when they were only introduced. Before relying on any of it, check the current text of the statute for your own state, and treat any summary, including this one, as a starting point rather than as advice.

What not to do

Do not lead with the statute. Boards respond badly to being told they are acting unlawfully, and the fastest route to a refusal is a first letter that reads as a threat. Bring a plan, a plant list and a maintenance schedule, and keep the legal citation in reserve for a formal appeal. The second mistake is assuming a state protection covers your situation without reading its scope; Colorado’s provisions apply to detached single-family homes, and an owner in a shared-wall unit who quotes them will simply be wrong. The third is installing before approval where a review process exists, which converts a legal question you would probably win into a procedural one you will not.