Three Denton-area municipalities were among nearly 500 across the United States that were judged on their eco-friendly lawn care in 2026, and some have room to grow.
Denton, Flower Mound and Lewisville all landed within the top-400 of a 2026 most eco-friendly lawn care survey.
According to Lawn Love, the survey ranked municipalities based on access to native plant suppliers, local policy incentives, community interest and water-savings programs.
Baseline environmental conditions, like water stress and drought susceptibility, were also considered.
“A city with strong sustainability programs can still rank lower if it’s working against tougher underlying conditions,” said Lawn Love. “And a city with milder conditions can rank higher without necessarily doing more.Use this as a starting point for comparison, not a verdict on any one city’s effort.”
Of the three, Denton ranked highest at No. 91. Flower Mound came in at No. 372 and Lewisville at No. 393.
Nearby Carrollton also made the list at No. 412.
As Denton County enters some of its driest conditions, Lawn Love encourages the use of more native species for landscaping, which can reduce watering needs and costs.
“Restricting the frequency of landscape irrigation to three, two or event just one day a week, is the most common and, in my opinion, both the most effective and the most economically efficient strategy,” said Michael Hanemann, a professor of Economics and Julie A. Wrigley Chair in Sustainability at Arizona State University.
According to Lawn Love, municipalities with larger yards on average are more encouraged to grow sustainable landscapes.
Late summer and early fall are great times to start putting gardening plans into action. As temperatures slowly start to drop, Lawn Love says a mix of cooler air and warm soil can help plants grow roots.
According to local Master Gardener Jill O’Connell, some vegetables and flowers should be planted in late August to give them the best chance to flourish when fall arrives.
Lawn Love covered 4 main themes in the metrics they used to rank the municipalities:
- Gardening & Green Living (38%): Number of native plant suppliers, average yard square footage, and rankings pulled from 4 previous studies — Best Cities for Pollinator-Friendly Landscaping, Best Cities for Composting, Best Cities for Urban Gardening, and Best Cities for Rain Gardens.
- Policy & Infrastructure (27%): Number of incentives for electric/smart lawn mowers, ICLEI membership, presence of an urban heat island mitigation program, and number of certified Living Buildings.
- Water Management (24%): Water usage limitation laws, baseline water stress score, rainwater harvesting legality, lawn irrigation cost rank, drought susceptibility, and number of water systems using purified recycled water.
- Public Interest & Engagement (11%): Presence of a local Wild Ones chapter and average monthly Google search volume for top sustainability-related keywords (per 100k residents).
To read more into the rankings, visit the full findings on Lawn Love’s website.
