Concord, NC Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

11's Low Impact Development standards, sets out a species-by-species list of plants the city says are not recommended for use within LID projects because they reproduce exponentially, out-compete native species for resources, and threaten the biodiversity of the local ecosystem. The list is organized by growth habit. Vines include Chinese wisteria, English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, Japanese wisteria, kudzu, periwinkle and porcelain berry. , and running bamboo, Phyllostachys spp. Shrubs named include autumn olive/silverberry, several exotic honeysuckle varieties, multiflora rose, nandina (sacred bamboo), Chinese and Japanese privet, and rose of Sharon.

Trees include the empress or princess tree and mimosa. The list sits directly after Sec. 10's recommended native plant list, and both are part of the landscaping standards a project must work through when preparing the vegetation and landscaping component of its LID design under Sec. 7(C), Standard 1. Because the list is framed as species that are not recommended, it functions as design guidance for the plant palette approved on a project's landscaping plan rather than a blanket citywide ban reaching every private yard in Concord; its direct legal force attaches to LID project approvals reviewed by the Planning and Development Services Department, where reviewers check proposed plantings against Sec. 11 during plan review.