Jupiter, FL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Town Code § 23-96 sets the material standard for every landscape plan filed under chapter 23: no more than 25 percent of trees in a perimeter buffer may be palms, no more than half of all on-site trees may be palms of any species, and, separately, at least 50 percent of all plant material of each type, trees, shrubs and ground cover alike, must be native as recognized by the South Florida Water Management District. Substitutions of approved species may only add more native material above that 50 percent floor; they cannot reduce it.

Section 23-66 folds the requirement into the permit process itself: any landscape plan (other than for a single-family home or a multifamily building under five units) must be signed and sealed by a state-registered landscape architect and must identify every native plant proposed, state the percentage of native material used for trees, shrubs and ground cover separately, and provide tabular data showing the percentage of native vegetation required versus provided. Native ground cover is separately encouraged under § 23-96(c). Because the disclosure runs through the same plan the town approves before a building permit issues, a landscape plan that falls short of 50 percent native content is not approved as submitted, and staking, irrigation and plant-quality standards in the same section apply once the native-content requirement is met.