Kenner, LA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Section 9.06 of the Kenner Unified Development Code sets the design criteria a landscape architect or landscape contractor licensed in Louisiana must follow when preparing a required landscape plan. Subsection (b) requires that plant material be chosen for form, texture, color, growth pattern, and suitability to local conditions, and it flatly states that the use of invasive plant species is strictly forbidden. It then sets the numeric floor: at least thirty percent of the trees and shrubs in a landscape plan must be native species, a requirement the ordinance ties directly to providing wildlife habitat and cutting irrigation demand.

That native-plant floor works alongside the article's tree-class rules: at least twenty-five percent of required trees must be Class A (species that normally reach fifty feet or more), palm trees can fill no more than a third of the tree requirement, and every single-trunk tree must have a two-inch caliper at planting. The Department of Planning will provide a recommended species list on request, and plans are evaluated against Section 9.06 before the City issues the permits tied to site development. Cypress mulch is separately banned under Section 9.06(f) because of its environmentally destructive harvesting practices.