Ashwaubenon, WI Invasive Plant Rules: Front Yard Gardens (2026)

The Village's noxious weeds ordinance, Section 11-1-21(F), regulates the height of grass and vegetation on every parcel in Ashwaubenon, capping it at six inches on improved lots. But the same section carves gardens out entirely. The Code defines Garden at Section 11-1-21(F)(2) as a cultivated area dedicated to growing vegetables, fruits, annual and perennial plants, ornamental grasses and ground cover in a well-defined location, and Section 11-1-21(F)(3)(c) then lists Gardens first among the uses the height and destruction requirements shall not apply to. Nothing in the definition restricts where on the lot a garden may sit, so a front yard vegetable bed or flower garden gets the same exemption as one in a side or back yard, provided it stays a well-defined location rather than uncontrolled growth.

That said, the exemption is narrow: it covers the garden area itself, not an entire overgrown lot dressed up as a garden after the fact. The ordinance's purpose clause explains the Village is trying to prohibit the uncontrolled growth of vegetation and to control noxious weeds, while permitting the planting and maintenance of planned natural landscaping that adds diversity and richness to the quality of life, and a garden that spreads noxious weeds named in the Code, such as thistle, ragweed or garlic mustard, is not shielded just because it began as a planting bed. Ashwaubenon has no separate ordinance addressing invasive ornamental species; the garden exemption is the only front yard planting rule the Village's own code carries.