An owner wants to replace their lawn with xeriscape. How should our HOA board review the request?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 12, 2026

How an HOA board reviews an owner request to swap a lawn for xeriscape: TX, FL and CO limits, what to ask for, fair conditions, a timeline and approval wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Treat the request as a design review, not a yes-or-no vote on whether lawns are required. In Texas, Florida and Colorado, state law already decided that an association cannot ban water-wise yards. What the board still controls is how the yard looks and works: plant mix, how much rock, edging, drainage, and upkeep. So ask for a simple plan, check it against a written standard, approve with conditions, and put the decision in writing within the time your documents allow. A board that denies a xeriscape because the street "has always been grass" is the board that ends up in a dispute it will lose. Rules vary by state and by your declaration, and this guide is general education, not legal advice. Have the association's attorney look at your landscaping rules before you rely on them.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado allow

Texas. Property Code 202.007(a)(4) bars a property owners' association from prohibiting or restricting drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf, and (b) makes a provision that does so void. The association keeps real tools. Under (d)(8) it may require a detailed description or plan so it can review for aesthetic compatibility with other landscaping. Under (d)(4) it may regulate gravel, rocks and cacti, and under (d)(5) it may set maintenance rules that do not restrict water-conserving design. Subsection (c) lets it require water-conserving turf when an owner plants new grass. The limit is (d-1): the board may not unreasonably deny the plan or unreasonably call it incompatible. A narrow exception in (e) covers a few very large mixed-use developments. Florida. Section 720.3075(4)(b) says association documents may not prohibit, or be enforced to prohibit, an owner from putting in Florida-friendly landscaping as defined in 373.185, and 373.185(3)(b) says the same of any deed restriction. The definition is about the whole design: quality landscapes that conserve water, suit local conditions and tolerate drought, built on principles such as right plant in the right place, efficient watering, mulching and reducing stormwater runoff. The University of Florida's Florida-Friendly Landscaping program lists nine principles, and they make a fair checklist for your review. Colorado. CRS 38-33.3-106.5(1)(i.5), added by SB 23-178 effective August 7, 2023, covers detached single-family homes. The association may adopt design rules for drought-tolerant and nonvegetative landscapes, but those rules must not unreasonably require hardscape on more than 20 percent of the landscaping area, must allow an option of at least 80 percent drought-tolerant plantings, must not ban vegetable gardens in front, side or back yards, and must not ban artificial turf in the backyard. Attached homes that share a wall fall under (1)(i)(I)(A), which still protects xeriscape but lets the association regulate plantings and limit artificial turf to rear yards. Condominiums are outside (1)(i.5). Section 106.5 also reaches communities created before July 1, 1992, through 38-33.3-117(1)(c).

Colorado's three preapproved front-yard designs

If your Colorado community has detached homes, the board has a job to do before any request arrives. CRS 38-33.3-106.5(1)(i.5)(II) requires every association to select at least three preplanned water-wise garden designs that are preapproved for front yards. Each design must follow water-wise principles that stress drought-tolerant and native plants, or come from a local water provider's conservation program. The statute names the Plant Select downloadable designs as one source, and designs from a city or utility also qualify. An owner who installs one of the three designs is treated as complying with your aesthetic guidelines, and may swap in reasonable substitute plants when a listed plant is not available. Post the designs on the association website if you have one. Pick designs sized for your actual front yards, print the plant lists, and attach them to the architectural form. The statute has teeth. If an association knowingly violates (1)(i.5), an affected owner may sue for an injunction and the greater of $500 or actual damages, after giving the association written notice and 45 days to cure. If a letter like that arrives, put it on the next board agenda, not in a drawer.

What to ask for, and what not to

A short application lets the committee decide on facts. Ask for: - A sketch or marked-up aerial photo with the planted areas, rock or mulch areas, paths and edging, and rough measurements. - A plant list with mature size, so the committee can spot a shrub that will block a sidewalk or a driveway sight line in three years. - The ground cover: mulch type, rock size and color, and whether there is weed barrier. - The irrigation change: drip, capped heads, or none. - Any change to grading, swales or downspouts. - Who will install it and a target finish date. Keep it there. In Colorado, CRS 37-60-126(11)(b) counts board practices such as requiring an architect's stamp, preapproval by a landscape architect the board hires, a water-use analysis or a landscaping change fee as part of the restrictive covenant, and (11)(a.5) makes a covenant that bans xeriscape unenforceable. Extra paperwork can turn into a ban in practice. Texas and Florida have no list like that, but an application that costs more than the plants reads as a denial to any judge.

Conditions a board can reasonably set

Conditions are where the board earns a good-looking street without fighting the statute. Conditions that usually hold up: - Living plant cover at a stated share of the front yard once plants mature, so the yard is not a gravel lot. In Colorado, write the rock limit so it does not require more than 20 percent hardscape and keep an 80 percent planted option open. - Rock in earth tones within a size range, with defined edges so it stays out of the street and sidewalk. - Mulch kept at a usable depth and refreshed when it thins. - Plants kept clear of sidewalks, mailboxes and driveway sight lines. - No change to drainage paths without written approval. Colorado's (1)(i.5)(V) expressly keeps the board's power to protect grading and drainage, fire buffers and defensible space, and to adopt bona fide safety requirements. - In Texas, any new turf must be a water-conserving type, as 202.007(c) allows. - A 12-month window to finish installation, with weeding and plant replacement as ongoing maintenance. Conditions that tend to fail: a minimum lawn area, a required share of sod, a ban on all rock, or a plant palette so short no nursery stocks it.

A review timeline and approval wording

Day 0: the application comes in; log the date. Days 1 to 7: the committee chair checks it is complete and asks for anything missing in one email. Days 7 to 21: a committee member walks the lot, looks at drainage and sight lines, and compares the plan to your standard or, in Colorado, to the three preapproved designs. Day 30 or sooner: written decision. Some declarations deem a request approved if the committee misses its deadline, so learn yours and beat it. Sample approval: "The Architectural Review Committee approves the landscape plan submitted on [date] for [address], replacing the front lawn with drought-tolerant plantings and mulch as shown, subject to these conditions: (1) planted areas cover at least [__] percent of the front yard at maturity; (2) rock is [color], [size range], and contained by [steel or stone] edging; (3) plants are kept 18 inches clear of the sidewalk and out of the driveway sight line; (4) grading and drainage paths are not changed; (5) work is finished by [date]. Any change to the approved plan needs a new request." If the committee denies a plan, say exactly which part fails and what would fix it. In Texas, a denial that names no specific problem is hard to defend as reasonable under 202.007(d-1).

Brown lawns, dead turf and the transition year

Most xeriscape requests start after a dry summer, often with a violation letter about a brown lawn. Check state law before you send the next one. Texas Property Code 202.008, added by HB 517 effective September 1, 2025, bars fines for brown or dead turf while a mandatory watering restriction applies and until the 60th day after it lifts. Colorado's 37-60-126(11)(c) lets a board act against landscaping an owner lets die, but it cannot require watering beyond local restrictions, must enforce consistently, and must give a reasonable chance to reseed and revive turf before requiring new sod. In Florida, 720.3075(4)(b) bars rules that conflict with a water management district's water shortage orders. An owner mid-conversion will have a yard that looks rough for a season. Put the finish date in the approval and leave the yard alone until then. Our guide on how an HOA should respond to drought watering restrictions covers the enforcement side in more detail.

Mistakes boards make

Denying a plan because it is not grass, which runs into the statute in all three states. Approving with no conditions, then having nothing to enforce when the yard turns into bare rock and weeds. Writing "tasteful xeriscape" into the guidelines with no numbers. Asking for a landscape architect's drawing for a front yard. In Colorado, never choosing the three preapproved designs, or choosing three that do not fit your lot sizes. Letting a request sit past the deadline in the declaration. Treating artificial turf and planted xeriscape as the same request: turf has its own rules, which our guide on writing HOA design standards for artificial turf covers. And forgetting the file: keep the approved plan and conditions with the lot record so the next board and the next buyer know what was agreed.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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