Landscaping Rules in Clarksville, TN (2026)
5 verified landscaping rules for Clarksville, Tennessee, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Tree Trimming
Clarksville requires every property owner and tenant to keep trees and shrubbery trimmed back so they never impede, obstruct, interfere with, or endanger the free flow of traffic on an abutting public way. City Code Sec. 12-109 makes it the landowner's job, not the city's, to keep the branches clear.
Trees Must Not Block Public Ways
Some RestrictionsOfficial Code of the City of Clarksville Sec. 12-109
Property owners and tenants are required to keep their trees and shrubbery so trimmed that they do not impede, obstruct, interfere with, or endanger the free flow of traffic in and upon abutting public ways.
Tree Removal & Heritage Trees
When a city department or utility removes a city public tree it must replant caliper for caliper. A homeowner who removes a private tree owes no replacement, and development tree preservation credits are voluntary.
Replacement duties fall on the city, not homeowners
Some RestrictionsClarksville Code of Ordinances § 1-1706(e) (Removal, replanting and replacement)
Whenever a city department or utility determines that removal of a city public tree from a public area is necessary, the city department or utility causing the removal shall replant such trees, or replace them on a caliper for caliper inch basis.
Rainwater Harvesting
Clarksville's code has no rain barrel or rainwater harvesting provision and requires no permit. Two existing rules bite: cistern openings must be securely covered, and plumbing a barrel into household supply is an unlawful cross-connection without state approval.
Rain barrels unregulated; cistern openings must be covered
Few RestrictionsClarksville Mun. Code § 10-239 (Wells, cisterns, shafts to be covered)
The owners, lessees, and those occupying or having possession of land or real estate in the city where there is a well, cistern, or shaft shall keep the openings to the wells, cisterns, or shafts securely covered so that no child or person can fall into the opening thereof.
Native Plants
No Clarksville ordinance authorizes or restricts a native-plant yard, and no registration exists. Section 8-107 still lets the city order vegetation cut once growth passes one foot, which is the practical ceiling on a meadow-style front yard.
Native yards allowed; one-foot cut order still applies
Some RestrictionsClarksville Zoning Ordinance § 7.12 (Landscape Buffer Yard Design and Materials)
Existing Native Plant Material. The use of existing plant material is strongly encouraged in landscape buffer yards. Existing natural groundcover shall be retained where possible by avoiding scraping, grading and sodding within the landscape buffer yard.
Artificial Turf
Clarksville's Code of Ordinances and Zoning Ordinance contain no artificial or synthetic turf provision. The landscaping chapter exempts single-family and two-family lots outright, and the weed rule reaches only living vegetation. Recorded HOA covenants are the real constraint.
No city rule on artificial turf; HOA governs
Few RestrictionsClarksville Zoning Ordinance § 7.3 (Landscaping)
Landscaping: The process or product of site development including grading, installation of plant materials, and seeding of turf or ground cover. Includes any combination of living plants, such as trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers or grass; natural features such as rock, stone, bark chips or shavings