Ankeny, IA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)
Key Facts
- Exemption
- Native planting areas exempt from 12-inch height cap
- Definition
- Indigenous prairie species, excluding noxious weeds
- Recommended mowing
- Once yearly to 10 inches, if mowed
- Alternative maintenance
- Controlled burning under fire department permit
- Limit on exemption
- Must not constitute a nuisance under the Code
Summary
In the City of Ankeny, Iowa, native planting areas are exempt from the City's 12-inch vegetation height cap as long as they do not create a nuisance. Owners may maintain those areas by controlled burning under a fire department permit instead of mowing them each year.
Native Planting Areas: Areas of native plant species on any parcel, provided they do not constitute a nuisance under this Code. Native plants/vegetation means any indigenous plant species found in the state’s prairies, excluding any noxious weeds. As a best management practice, all vegetation, other than trees and shrubs, should be cut at least once annually to a height no greater than ten inches (10”). ... As an alternative to cutting, native planting areas (see exceptions at subsections 7, 8, and 9 of this section) on both private and public property may be maintained by controlled burning with an approved permit from the city's fire department. This section shall not be construed so as to permit the growing of noxious weeds as defined in Iowa Code Chapter 317.
Full Breakdown
Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 167.04, Exceptions to Height Restrictions, lists nine categories exempt from the 12-inch vegetation cap set in § 167.02, and the ninth is "Native Planting Areas: Areas of native plant species on any parcel, provided they do not constitute a nuisance under this Code." The section defines "native plants/vegetation" as "any indigenous plant species found in the state's prairies, excluding any noxious weeds," so the exemption covers prairie species but never the weeds listed under Iowa Code Chapter 317. The ordinance sets a best-management practice rather than a hard mandate for these areas: "all vegetation, other than trees and shrubs, should be cut at least once annually to a height no greater than ten inches (10")," phrased with "should" rather than "shall." As an alternative to mowing, § 167.04 lets an owner maintain a native planting area, along with the erosion-control and conservation-easement exceptions listed in the same section, "by controlled burning with an approved permit from the city's fire department," on both private and public property.
The section closes with a guardrail running through the whole list: nothing in § 167.04 "shall be construed so as to permit the growing of noxious weeds as defined in Iowa Code Chapter 317," so a homeowner cannot use the native-planting exemption to shield an actual noxious-weed infestation from the City's cutting and assessment authority under §§ 167.02 and 167.03.
Violations & Fines
A native planting area loses its § 167.04 exemption the moment it "constitute[s] a nuisance under this Code" or crosses into growing weeds defined as noxious under Iowa Code Chapter 317; once that happens it falls back under § 167.02's 12-inch cap and the City's five-day-notice cutting and cost-assessment process in § 167.03, the same enforcement track as any other overgrown lot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I plant a native prairie garden instead of mowing my lawn in Ankeny?
Do I still have to mow a native planting area at all?
Can the City still make me deal with a "native" area that's actually just weeds?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ankeny
Compare Ankeny to another location·View the Iowa landscaping rules overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.