Research

HyreYard research

Original analysis of the rules, soils and credentials that decide a yard — read from the statute, the municipal code or the federal soil file, not from a blog that cites one.

Updated September 2026 · Data as of Statutes, ordinances, utility pages and NRCS Soil Data Access retrieved 5 September 2026

Written by HyreYard Research Desk Primary-source research and fact checking

9 states with drought-tolerant HOA preemption 50-state statutory table

10 states with a named landscape contractor licence Most of the map does not

25 water systems whose watering rule we read 12 assign watering days

What this is

We publish original analysis of American yards: which cities require a tree-removal permit, which states stop an HOA banning a drought-tolerant lawn, which fire codes change what may be planted against the house, which water systems assign watering days, which agencies still pay to tear turf out, and which states actually license a landscaper. Every study names its sources, publishes its method, and titles itself to the jurisdictions we actually read. Figures we calculate are labelled as calculations. Store-based counts are titled to seven states, never to the nation. Research is attributed to the HyreYard Research Desk, never to an individual. HyreYard does not landscape, irrigate, treat pests or pull permits.

The studies

23 cities Municipal codes Do you need a permit to cut down your own tree? 23 municipal tree codes. Diameter triggers, fees, replacement rules and penalties, each with the ordinance and the retrieval date. Not a national map. Read the page 9 / 50 50-state statute table When your HOA cannot stop you removing the lawn 9 states currently bar an association from banning drought-tolerant landscaping. 37 have no such statewide statute we could find, and 4 have a narrower related statute. Read the page Zone 0 pending Fire codes · Live Defensible space: the landscaping rules fire codes impose 11 fire-country states and 6 municipal overlays. California’s ember-resistant Zone 0 is in the statute and not yet in the CCR (OAL file 2026-0828-03E). Read the page 25 Utility rules · Weekly in drought season Outdoor watering restrictions, as of September 2026 25 large water systems in drought-exposed states, normalised into a published taxonomy. Not a national inventory of several thousand providers. Read the page 18 Agency programmes · Quarterly Turf replacement rebates, compared 18 programmes currently accepting applications, plus 5 closed, paused or waitlisted. Rate, cap, plant list and inspection, each with an as-of date. Read the page 9 ≠ 4 ft Building codes The height at which a retaining wall needs a permit 23 codes and department pages. 9 are not a 4-foot exemption. There is no national 4-foot law. Read the page 64 NRCS Soil Data Access The soils that break patios and retaining walls NRCS shrink-swell classes and 38 million acres of Vertisols. Stops at the house foundation. Not a lot determination. Read the page 10 / 50 50-state boards Which states license landscapers, and for what 10 states issue a named landscape contractor licence. Irrigation and pesticide application are licensed far more often. Arizona CR-21 does not verify planting. Read the page 8 classes NRCS · no fake map Where yards flood, and what the soil survey already knew NRCS drainage class and hydrologic soil group. Standing water is sometimes a soil property. Web Soil Survey is the lookup. Not a lot determination. Read the page $45 BLS OEWS · commercial Lawn care cost, with every figure sourced May 2025 median $18.82 an hour for SOC 37-3011. A labour floor at three burden factors. No national average. Read the page

The rules we hold ourselves to

Primary sources only
A rule comes from the statute, ordinance, board or agency that issued it, cited by section, with the URL and the retrieval date. We do not cite a blog that cites a code.
Coverage is a number, not a vibe
A table titled to fifty states has fifty sourced rows. A table of cities is titled to the cities we actually read. Gaps are published as gaps.
Store-based facts stay inside seven states
Texas, Arizona, Washington, California, Oregon, Florida and North Carolina. Texas is the largest roster on the weakest evidence — a self-reported NAICS sales-tax permit — because Texas licenses no landscaper. National claims rest on federal or state agency data, never on our counts.
Fact, calculation, analysis and recommendation stay labelled
“According to…” is a source. “HyreYard analysed… and calculated…” is ours. “This suggests…” is interpretation. We do not present our reading as something the source stated.
Unable to verify is not unlicensed
A register we could not query is a data-access problem. Reporting it as “these companies have no licences” would be a false claim about named businesses.
Limitations sit on the page, not in a footnote
Where a result depends on an amendment, a measuring point or a programme that has closed, we say so in the finding itself.
Attributed to the desk, never to a person
Research here is published under the HyreYard Research Desk. We do not put an individual byline on original analysis, and we do not claim first-hand experience the organisation cannot evidence.
We do not landscape
We take no payment for placement, ranking or a favourable mention. Nobody buys a position on this site.

Using this research

Journalists, researchers, water agencies and fire authorities are welcome to cite and reproduce these findings, including the tables. We ask for a link to the study page, because the methodology, the retrieval dates and the limitations live there and a row quoted without them is easy to misread.

Every study names its sources precisely enough to be checked independently. If you find an error — a recodified section, a closed rebate, a renamed licence class — we would rather hear it than not. Corrections are made on the page with a dated note, not silently.

Questions

Who writes HyreYard research?

The HyreYard Research Desk. Original analysis here is attributed to the desk and never carries an individual byline, and we do not claim first-hand experience the organisation cannot evidence. HyreYard does not landscape, irrigate, treat pests or pull permits, and takes no payment for placement, ranking or a favourable mention.

Where do the figures come from?

Primary sources only: the statute, ordinance, board or agency that issued the rule, cited by section, with the URL and the retrieval date, plus federal files such as NRCS Soil Data Access and BLS OEWS. We do not cite a blog that cites a code. Figures we compute ourselves are labelled as HyreYard calculations rather than presented as something a source stated.

How current are the tables?

Statutes, ordinances, utility pages and NRCS Soil Data Access on this hub were retrieved 5 September 2026, and every study carries its own retrieval date on the page. Watering restrictions move fastest, which is why that tracker is revisited weekly through drought season and the rebate table quarterly. Corrections are made on the page with a dated note, not silently.

Can my HOA stop me removing the lawn?

It depends on the state. 9 states currently bar an association from banning drought-tolerant landscaping; 37 have no such statewide statute we could find, and 4 have a narrower related statute. The HOA landscaping preemption study has the statutory table, and the “HOA may still” column matters as much as the right itself.

Do I need a permit to cut down a tree in my own yard?

That is a municipal question, not a state or national one. We read 23 municipal tree codes for diameter triggers, fees, replacement rules and penalties, each with the ordinance and the retrieval date. See tree removal permit rules. It is not a national map, so if your city is not in the table, the answer is to open your own code.

Which states license a landscaper?

10 of 50 issue a named landscape contractor licence. Irrigation and pesticide application are licensed far more often than planting or design, which is the finding most hiring advice gets backwards. The detail is in which states license landscapers.

Is there a national 4-foot rule for retaining wall permits?

No. Of the 23 codes and department pages we read, 9 are not a 4-foot exemption. The 4-foot figure is a model-code convention that many jurisdictions amend, so the threshold that applies to you is the one your own building department adopted. See retaining wall permit thresholds.

Written and audited by

HyreYard Research

Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking

We are a research desk, not a landscaping company. We read the statute, the municipal code, the water-district rule or the federal soil file ourselves, and we publish the figure with the document it came from and the date we retrieved it. Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we publish the shorter page and say what we could not verify. This programme is new. The counts below are what we can already stand behind — a seven-state roster and a rule that we will not make a national claim from it.

10: studies published
50: states in the licensing and HOA tables
7: states the contractor roster is titled to
0: national claims drawn from our own store

How this desk works

Primary sources only. A rule comes from the statute, ordinance, board or agency that issued it, cited by section, with the URL and the retrieval date. We do not cite a blog that cites a code.
Coverage is a number, not a vibe. A table titled to fifty states has fifty sourced rows. A table of cities is titled to the cities we actually read. Gaps are published as gaps.
Store-based facts stay inside the seven states. Texas, Arizona, Washington, California, Oregon, Florida and North Carolina. Texas is the largest roster on the weakest evidence — a self-reported NAICS sales-tax permit — because Texas licenses no landscaper. National claims rest on federal or state agency data, never on our counts.
Fact, calculation, analysis and recommendation stay labelled. "According to…" is a source. "HyreYard analysed… and calculated…" is ours. "This suggests…" is interpretation. We do not present our reading as something the source stated.
We do not landscape, irrigate, treat pests or pull permits, and we take no payment for placement, ranking or a favourable mention. Nobody buys a position on this site.

Data as of Statutes, ordinances, utility pages and NRCS Soil Data Access retrieved 5 September 2026. Authorship on this site is organisational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold. Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.

Working out what your own yard needs

A table describes a rule. A calculator describes arithmetic on numbers you type. Neither is a quote, and HyreYard does not do the work.

Open the calculators Find a Landscaping Company

HyreYard does not perform landscaping, irrigation, tree work, pest treatment or permit work. Research is organisational. Nothing here is legal, engineering or tax advice.