Tippecanoe County, IN Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Tippecanoe County does not have a general native-landscaping ordinance for ordinary homeowners; the pollinator-friendly, native-plant requirement in the code applies specifically to large-scale solar energy systems under § 4-11-14(c). Any applicant seeking a special exception or improvement location permit for a ground-mounted solar array of ten acres or more must submit a landscaping plan built around pollinator-friendly seed mixes and native plants, and that plan has to be approved by one of three named professionals: a Registered Landscape Architect, a Certified Ecologist, or a Licensed Horticulturist.

The vegetation goes in around and under the solar arrays themselves, doubling as ground cover for a site that is otherwise exempt from the county's standard lot-coverage rules. The requirement does not end when the system is built. Section 4-11-14(d)(2) folds the same pollinator-friendly seed mixes and native plants into the decommissioning plan every large-scale system must carry: when the array is eventually removed, the vegetation is supposed to come out too, so the ground returns to a tillable, agricultural condition. A landowner can ask in writing to keep the established native plants, along with the driveway entrance or security fence, in place instead of restoring bare ground, but that request has to be approved by the Area Board of Zoning Appeals or the Administrative Officer before it is granted.