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Lot maintenance and naturalization

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Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback with us. Council approved an amending by-law on May 25, 2022 that included a new maximum turf grass height of 20 centimetres (8 inches) and standards for naturalized areas. For more information please refer to Amended lot maintenance standards. This project is now closed.

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The City of Waterloo is looking to amend the Lot Maintenance bylaw in order to allow for additional options to naturalize yards. Naturalization replaces cultivated lawn in a yard with maintained gardens that display purposeful design. In the face of pressures brought on by a changing climate and a growing city, naturalized areas support biodiversity and can help keep our urban ecosystems healthy.

We will be proposing an amendment to the bylaw that would support naturalization, with guiding principles to permit these additional options for yard styles, while ensuring neighbourhood standards are maintained.

The current Lot Maintenance bylaw:

  • regulates the basic standards for maintenance and aesthetics of exterior of a property in the city
  • sets out grass cutting, garbage, wood storage, weed control and material disposal standards
  • requires dead, decayed or damaged trees and branches be removed
  • non-compliance can result in an order of compliance on site
  • if compliance is not obtained in the issued timeframe, an officer may conduct the work to correct the violations at the owner’s expense and charges may be laid

Naturalization is NOT an abandoned, unmaintained lawn. The amendment will include guidance on things like:

  • plant and grass height
  • buffer strips (grass or ground cover trimmed or cut to a specified height or less between any naturalized area and neighbouring property)
  • required control of noxious weeds
  • encouraged use of local and native species of plants

Although naturalization can involve less work than a lawn, these gardens are not maintenance free. You will need to plan the layout, and there will be some weeding and possibly some pest control. You may also need to add compost, soil or mulch. But once established, you can let the plants grow as they would in nature—leave them through the winter to provide shelter for beneficial insects and seeds for other wildlife

Please let us know what you think we should consider in creating rules to allow space for naturalized yards in the City of Waterloo.




Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback with us. Council approved an amending by-law on May 25, 2022 that included a new maximum turf grass height of 20 centimetres (8 inches) and standards for naturalized areas. For more information please refer to Amended lot maintenance standards. This project is now closed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The City of Waterloo is looking to amend the Lot Maintenance bylaw in order to allow for additional options to naturalize yards. Naturalization replaces cultivated lawn in a yard with maintained gardens that display purposeful design. In the face of pressures brought on by a changing climate and a growing city, naturalized areas support biodiversity and can help keep our urban ecosystems healthy.

We will be proposing an amendment to the bylaw that would support naturalization, with guiding principles to permit these additional options for yard styles, while ensuring neighbourhood standards are maintained.

The current Lot Maintenance bylaw:

  • regulates the basic standards for maintenance and aesthetics of exterior of a property in the city
  • sets out grass cutting, garbage, wood storage, weed control and material disposal standards
  • requires dead, decayed or damaged trees and branches be removed
  • non-compliance can result in an order of compliance on site
  • if compliance is not obtained in the issued timeframe, an officer may conduct the work to correct the violations at the owner’s expense and charges may be laid

Naturalization is NOT an abandoned, unmaintained lawn. The amendment will include guidance on things like:

  • plant and grass height
  • buffer strips (grass or ground cover trimmed or cut to a specified height or less between any naturalized area and neighbouring property)
  • required control of noxious weeds
  • encouraged use of local and native species of plants

Although naturalization can involve less work than a lawn, these gardens are not maintenance free. You will need to plan the layout, and there will be some weeding and possibly some pest control. You may also need to add compost, soil or mulch. But once established, you can let the plants grow as they would in nature—leave them through the winter to provide shelter for beneficial insects and seeds for other wildlife

Please let us know what you think we should consider in creating rules to allow space for naturalized yards in the City of Waterloo.




  • Amended lot maintenance standards

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    Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback on this project. On April 25, 2022, Council approved report COM2022-016 (report begins on page 80), and approved amending By-law 2011-123 to include additional allowances for naturalized areas on private lots and increased grass height limits in an effort to support the native pollinator population. The amending by-law (begins on page 64) was approved by Council and came into effect on May 9, 2022. It includes a definition for Naturalized Area: a landscape area that has been allowed to establish vegetation through a combination of natural regeneration and deliberate plantings of native and non-native species of wildflowers, annuals, perennials, shrubs and grasses or a combination thereof to emulate a natural area monitored and maintained by the property owner. The following standards will now apply to naturalized areas:

    1. every owner or occupant shall ensure that the Naturalized Area does not encroach onto any adjacent property;
    2. every owner or occupant shall ensure that the Naturalized Area is maintained in a manner that does not present an unkempt or unsightly appearance;
    3. every owner or occupant shall maintain a Buffer Strip around any Naturalized Area; and
    4. no owner or occupant shall permit a Naturalized Area to be located within a daylight triangle or sightline triangle, as defined in the Zoning By-law and/or Fence By-law, unless such Naturalized Area complies with the maximum height regulations in the Zoning By-law and/or Fence By-law.

    The amended maximum height for turf grass is 20 centimetres (8 inches), and the amendment also includes the requirement for and definition of Buffer Strip: a border of Turf Grass, Ground Cover or vegetation that delineates a Naturalized Area, measuring at least 1.0 metres (3 feet) in width and not exceeding 20 centimetres (8 inches) in height.

    For the full details on the amendment, please refer to the amending by-law Council report (begins page 64).

  • What is naturalization?

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    Naturalization is the process of reducing the amount of cultivated lawn in a yard and adding spaces that better represent the naturally occurring landscape of the region.

    Naturalization takes research, planning and some initial work, but can result in an attractive, functional yard that is easy to maintain. In the face of pressures brought on by a changing climate and a growing city, naturalized areas support biodiversity and help keep our urban ecosystems healthy.

    Naturalized gardens use less water, need less maintenance and can contribute to our urban forest.

    Using many different native and non-invasive exotic plant species that grow and thrive together, you can create natural habitat in your own yard. Creatures may build nests or lay eggs, hibernate for the winter or just enjoy the shelter and safety of the garden.

    The City of Waterloo is recognized as a Bee City due to our efforts to support native pollinators and their habitat. We do this through education and community stewardship on municipal parkland, and naturalized pollinator gardens are one way that residents can help too. Visit Bee City Canada to learn more.

Page last updated: 13 Dec 2024, 03:52 PM