Greenwood, IN Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Section 10-03-06 of the Greenwood Unified Development Ordinance governs landscaping and buffering for new development and for expansions of a structure, use or site beyond twenty percent of its existing size. Subsection D requires all proposed plant material to be included on the Greenwood Planting Guide kept on file with the Department of Planning and Buildings and approved by the Plan Commission, to be a non-invasive species, to make up no more than thirty percent of any single plant genus, and to be living, disease-free, undamaged and free of material defects.

The same non-invasive standard follows existing vegetation: Section 10-03-06.E lets a developer count preserved mature trees and plants toward the landscaping requirement only if the tree exceeds six inches in caliper diameter, is clearly marked on the landscaping plan, is not an invasive species, and is in good health or can reasonably be restored to good health. Outside the development-review context, the General Ordinances' nuisance chapter separately defines a PEST at Section 6-270 to include an injurious or destructive insect, animal, rodent, reptile, or invasive species of plant which poses a substantial risk to human, domestic animal, or native plant species health and welfare, folding invasive plants into the city's broader nuisance-abatement framework administered by Code Enforcement. Failure to implement an approved landscape plan, including its non-invasive plant material, is itself a violation of the Unified Development Ordinance under Section 10-03-06.B.