Carmel, IN Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Carmel has no ordinance mandating native landscaping, and residents are generally free to plant native species. The City's weed ordinance is written so that natural and pollinator plantings are not automatically violations: § 6-88 defines 'weeds' as rank, choking, or USDA-listed plants, but expressly excludes common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) — a deliberate carve-out for monarch and pollinator habitat. Any planted bed, however, still must be maintained so it does not become overgrown rank vegetation exceeding six inches average height where applicable. The City and Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation actively encourage native plants and discourage invasive ones; regionally, the Hamilton County Invasives Partnership and Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District have run invasive-species trade-in programs that give native specimens to property owners who remove invasives. At the state level, Indiana's Terrestrial Plant Rule (312 IAC 18-3-25) designates 44 species — including wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) — as prohibited invasive terrestrial plants that may not be sold, gifted, bartered, exchanged, transported, or introduced anywhere in Indiana, including Carmel. That rule took effect in 2019, with plants already in trade prohibited as of April 18, 2020. So while native planting is voluntary, avoiding state-prohibited invasives is mandatory.