Lot maintenance and naturalization

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.