Marietta, GA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

05(A), the buffer requirements inside Part 7, Planning and Development. Buffers separate and screen properties by preserving undisturbed natural topography and growth, and owners are generally barred from clearing that vegetation. The section carves out five exceptions to the leave-undisturbed rule: dead or diseased vegetation, natural growth too dense for normal growth, trees that are a danger to property or people, poison ivy and other noxious vegetation, and creeping vines and invasive species that threaten the viability of desirable plant growth, naming kudzu as the example.

Critically, the first three exceptions carry an asterisk requiring certification by a registered arborist or licensed landscape architect before removal; the invasive-species and poison-ivy exceptions carry no such certification requirement, so a property owner can clear kudzu or similar vines from a required buffer on their own determination. 08 (Tree Protection and Landscaping) sets further species and location requirements for anything planted back into a disturbed buffer. Anyone asking whether Marietta bans a specific invasive plant species from being planted, sold or grown will not find that rule in this code; the only local hook is this buffer-clearing allowance.