Nashville, TN Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing list
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council's list
- Applies to
- Required landscape plans, buffers, tree density
- Effect
- Barred from planting and from credit
- Citation
- § 17.24.030(A)(4)
- Coverage
- General Services District (not satellite cities)
Summary
Metro Nashville's zoning code bars invasive exotic pest plants from being planted or credited toward required landscaping, buffers, or tree density, per Metropolitan Code of Laws § 17.24.030(A)(4).
Plants listed on the current edition of the Invasive Exotic Pest Plants of Tennessee, as published by the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, shall not be planted nor credited toward the minimum requirements of this Code.B.Plant Diversity.1.To maintain forest health, engender climate adaptation, and provide protection against disease and blight, tree plantings shall meet the following requirements:a.Tree diversity: Number of Trees Minimum Number of Different Genera in Roughly Equal Proportions Less than 20 2 Genera 20—39 3 Genera 40 or more 4 Genera
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 53 | Charter: Republication 9).
Full Breakdown
Under Metro's landscaping and buffering chapter, any plant material used to satisfy a required landscape plan, for site plan approval, buffer yards, or tree-density credit, cannot include species on the current edition of the Invasive Exotic Pest Plants of Tennessee, published by the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council. Such plants are disqualified outright: they neither may be planted to meet the Code's landscaping requirements nor counted toward them. The rule applies wherever a landscape plan is required under § 17.24.020 (new development crossing the plan threshold), not to private residential yards with no pending site plan. This is a Metro-wide zoning standard reaching the General Services District; the six satellite cities (Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville, Oak Hill, Ridgetop) administer their own codes and aren't covered.
Violations & Fines
A landscape plan proposing listed invasive species won't be approved by planning or codes staff, and any such plants already installed don't count toward the buffer, screening, or tree-density minimums until replaced with compliant material.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this ban invasive plants in my home garden?
What list decides which species are prohibited?
Does this apply in Belle Meade or Goodlettsville?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Nashville
Compare Nashville to another location·View the Tennessee invasive plant rules overview
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