High Point, NC Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

6, Plant Material Specifications, governs every tree, shrub, and ground cover installed to satisfy the Development Ordinance's landscaping requirements for a development site, whether that is a perimeter landscape yard, a parking lot island, or a required streetyard. Subsection D requires that plant species be native or locally adapted, with the Planning and Development Director approving any other species, and directs applicants to the Development Guide's approved plant list, which flags drought-tolerant species and species suitable for planting near overhead utility lines. Subsection E, Species Diversity, layers a second requirement on top of that: to curtail disease and insect infestation, a site needing fewer than 20 required trees must plant at least 2 different species in roughly equal numbers, a site needing 20 to 40 trees must use at least 3 species, and a site needing 40 or more trees must use at least 4 species.

5 closes the section with the operative invasive-species rule: in no instance shall invasive species be utilized as landscaping materials to meet the requirements of this section. That is an absolute bar, not a discretionary standard the Planning and Development Director can waive the way species substitutions elsewhere in the section can be approved. 5, Landscape Plan Required, which must be approved before or alongside a site plan, group development plan, or building permit is issued, so an invasive species on a submitted plant list is a plan-approval problem before it ever becomes a planted, enforceable violation on the ground.

The rule governs required landscaping citywide in High Point, North Carolina, and does not reach ordinary residential yard plantings that fall outside a development's landscape plan.