Tree Protection in New Castle County, DE (2026)
3 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in New Castle County, Delaware.
Verified from official government sources
Heritage & Protected Trees
New Castle County has no separate heritage-tree ordinance. Its closest protection is the specimen-tree rule in the Unified Development Code, triggered only when land is developed or subdivided.
New Castle County Specimen Tree Rules
Some RestrictionsNew Castle County Code § 40.23.300
Specimen trees shall be located and identified to the species taxonomic level on the site plan or land development plan. The development design shall preserve specimen trees wherever practical. The County may require plan revision where additional preservation is possible without affecting density. Where preservation is not feasible, tree replacement shall be required as mitigation.
Protected Tree Species
New Castle County's development code protects "specimen trees", healthy, non-invasive trees above set size thresholds or comparable to the state champion, requiring preservation or replacement during land development review.
New Castle County Specimen Tree Protection
Some RestrictionsNew Castle County Code § 40.33.300
Specimen tree. Any tree or arborescent plant (i.e., a perennial woody plant with a treelike habit that resembles a tree in growth or appearance) in good health that is not in a forest and having a single trunk diameter in accordance with Table 40.23.320 and Appendix 3, or having seventy-five (75) percent or more of the trunk diameter of the current state champion tree as identified by the Delaw...
Parkway Planting
New developments in unincorporated New Castle County must plant street trees along road rights-of-way at a set rate per linear foot, sized and spaced under Sec. 40.23.151 of the Unified Development Code.
New Castle County Street Tree Planting Rules
Some RestrictionsNew Castle County Code § 40.23.151
Large canopy street trees shall be planted on each side of the right-of-way at the minimum rate of one (1) tree per forty (40) linear feet of right-of-way. There is an exception for interior streets in nonresidential subdivisions not designated as arterials or collectors, wherein trees shall be planted on each side of the right-of-way at the minimum rate of one (1) tree per fifty (50) linear fe...
Tree Protection by City in New Castle County
1 cities in New Castle County have their own tree protection rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
All New Castle County ordinances
See every category we cover for New Castle County: parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
New Castle County Ordinance Hub →