Alpharetta, GA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Sec. 2.10.7 of the Unified Development Code governs landscaping and screening within the North Point Overlay, the district covering the Mansell Road, Haynes Bridge Road, North Point Parkway and Westside Parkway corridors. For parking lot landscaping, Subsection A.2 directs that landscape design and material selection may incorporate practices of water conservation and xeriscape, and that use of native materials is encouraged, with plants grouped by similar irrigation needs where possible. That parking lot standard is paired with a plant material standard in Subsection G: all required plant material must be hardy to USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7b, the zone the code names for Alpharetta, and it must be able to survive on natural rainfall once established with no loss of health, though the property owner may still choose to irrigate.

The code backs the survivability standard with a durability rule: no artificial plants, trees or other vegetation may ever be installed as required landscaping or screening. Property owners stay on the hook after installation too, since Subsection H requires any dead, unhealthy, damaged or missing required landscaping to be replaced within 90 days, or 180 days where weather would jeopardize new plantings, with conforming material subject to City Arborist approval, and all planting areas must be stabilized against soil erosion immediately after planting. Together these standards push developers in the overlay toward native, low-water plant palettes without imposing an outright ban on non-native ornamentals outside the parking lot context.