Real DFW yards, before and after
If you live in Stonebridge Ranch, read this first
Stonebridge Ranch is the largest master-planned community in McKinney — more than 9,400 homes across 5,000 acres and 75 named villages — and its Modification and Design Guidelines address artificial turf directly. Backyard and side-yard turf is expressly permitted behind the perimeter and return fences, with approval. Front yards are a different matter: the guidelines require that front and side yards forward of the return fences include a minimum of 50 percent live turf grass from the approved palette, which is Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Buffalo or Centipede. The guidelines also prohibit uncoated crumb rubber infill over heavy-metal concerns, require that the install not alter the subdivision drainage pattern, and ask for a scaled site plan, manufacturer spec sheets and a description of base materials at submission. We build Stonebridge Ranch installs to that document, and we prepare the submission package for you.
Your watering day in McKinney is your trash day
McKinney keys outdoor watering to sanitation day rather than address parity: watering is permitted on your trash day and three days later if needed, and no outdoor watering is allowed between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The city is currently operating under its summer water conservation plan and has asked residents to cut landscape watering by two minutes per zone. Every drought stage in McKinney’s Drought Contingency Plan is triggered by notification from the North Texas Municipal Water District rather than by local conditions, which means your watering schedule can tighten because of a reservoir forty miles away. Lavon Lake, NTMWD’s primary supply, was 87.5 percent full in late August 2026 and drawing down — comfortable this year, but the 2011 to 2015 stretch, when NTMWD cities were restricted to watering twice a month, is well inside living memory here.
What a McKinney install involves
- Blackland clay, confirmed: soil survey sampling across McKinney returns Houston Black as the dominant series at most points, with Heiden, Fairlie and Branyon alongside it. All shrink-swell clays. The base is the engineering, not the turf.
- HOA package for Stonebridge Ranch: scaled site plan, manufacturer spec sheets, base material description and a physical turf sample. We assemble it rather than handing you a brochure.
- Front-yard rule respected: in Stonebridge Ranch the front and side yards forward of the return fences must stay at least 50 percent live grass. We design to that line instead of pretending it does not exist.
- Coated infill only: the guidelines prohibit uncoated crumb rubber infill. We do not use it anyway, and we will put the product spec in writing.
- Drainage pattern preserved: the guidelines require that an install not alter established subdivision drainage. Over Houston Black at roughly 0.03 inches per hour infiltration, that takes deliberate base design.
- Tree permit awareness: McKinney requires a tree permit under Zoning Ordinance Chapter 146. We plan around protected trees rather than discovering them mid-dig.
Where we work in McKinney
Stonebridge Ranch and its villages — Adriatica, Coronado Village, Kings Lake, Wynn Ridge, Falcon Creek, Quail Creek, La Cima, Regents Park, Mayberry Park, Fairway Village, Wellington Point, Stonebridge Estates, Cascades and the rest — make up the bulk of our McKinney work, and being built from the mid-1980s onward they have the mature canopy that Frisco does not. Craig Ranch, developed through the 2000s around TPC Craig Ranch, is the next largest, and Trinity Falls is the newest of the three at 2,000 acres with genuine woodland on site. The problem set shifts with the age: Stonebridge Ranch yards more often fail from shade and root competition, Trinity Falls yards from full sun on young Bermuda over compacted construction clay.
McKinney specifics
Can I install artificial turf in Stonebridge Ranch?
Yes, in the rear and side yards behind the perimeter and return fences, with Modification Committee approval. The Design Guidelines also require that front and side yards forward of the return fences keep a minimum of 50 percent live turf grass from the approved palette. Note that a July 2026 board update to the residential design guidelines exists — we confirm current requirements with the association before we submit, rather than relying on a PDF that may have been superseded.
What are McKinney’s watering rules?
Outdoor watering is permitted on your trash day and three days later if necessary, and is prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. McKinney does not publish a dollar fine schedule for watering violations, and its drought stages are triggered by North Texas Municipal Water District notification rather than by the city independently.
Does McKinney rebate artificial turf?
No. McKinney’s WaterSmart program offers up to $150 in rebates for upgrading established irrigation systems with ET controllers and rain or freeze sensors, and states explicitly that no rebates are available for new irrigation installations. There is no turf-replacement or landscape-conversion rebate. Turf’s water argument here is the removal of the irrigation cost, not a rebate cheque.
What does McKinney water cost in summer?
Inside the city, residential water runs $5.00 per thousand gallons up to 7,000, $6.90 to 20,000, $8.70 to 40,000 and $10.45 above that, on a $19.80 monthly base. Sewer is billed on a December-through-February winter quarter average, so summer irrigation lands entirely on the water line.
We have dogs and clay. Will it drain?
That combination is the whole reason we build the base the way we do. Houston Black takes water at roughly 0.03 inches an hour, so a pet install over McKinney clay needs drainage capacity engineered rather than assumed. See pet turf installation and turf drainage over North Texas clay. Our pet turf in McKinney page covers the dog specific build.
Will it clear my McKinney HOA?
In most McKinney HOAs, yes. We use natural-looking, realistic turf and prepare the full submission packet (product specs, photos, drainage details) that architectural review boards typically require. We’ve successfully cleared approvals across North Texas HOAs and will help with the paperwork.
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