Jefferson County, AL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)
Key Facts
- Native trees required in
- Rights-of-way and common areas
- Exceptions
- Only with County approval
- Shrubs
- North/central Alabama natives encouraged, not required
- Bioswale strips
- Must use native plants if trees waived
- Plans sealed by
- Alabama-registered landscape architect
- Adopted
- October 9, 2025
Summary
Planned Unit Developments in unincorporated Jefferson County must plant only native tree species in rights-of-way and common areas, with substitutions allowed only if the County approves an exception. Zoning Resolution Section 701.09 also pushes shrubs native to north and central Alabama throughout the development and requires native plantings in any street-side rain garden or bioswale that replaces the standard shade-tree strip.
c. Only native tree species shall be used in right-of-way or common areas. Exceptions may be permitted if approved by the County. The use of shrubs native to the north and central Alabama region is highly encouraged within all areas of the development. ...
c. If vegetated rain gardens, bio-retention, or bioswales are located within the planting strips, the requirement for shade trees will be removed. Provided, however, that the landscape strip contains native plants and is designed to capture and filter stormwater.
Full Breakdown
09's General Landscape Requirements, which govern every Planned Unit Development platted under Article 7: the PE-3, PE-4, PR-3, PR-C, PR-CC, PR-4 series, PR-7, PR-11, MX-PUD, TVD, TCD and INST-4 districts. c requires that only native tree species be used in the right-of-way or in common areas shared by the development, though the County can approve an exception where a substitute species is warranted. The same subsection encourages, without mandating, the use of shrubs native to the north and central Alabama region throughout the rest of the development.
The native-plant standard resurfaces in the Street Landscape provisions: where a development substitutes a vegetated rain garden, bio-retention area or bioswale for the standard planting strip along a street, the shade-tree requirement is waived only if that strip is planted with native material engineered to capture and filter stormwater, so the native-plant obligation does not disappear, it just moves from trees to groundcover. All landscape plans, native or otherwise, must be produced by a landscape architect registered in the State of Alabama, and the development owner or HOA must record covenants and sign a maintenance agreement with the County guaranteeing that the required native plantings in common areas and rights-of-way are preserved in perpetuity, not just installed once and abandoned.
Violations & Fines
Native-species landscaping is part of the Final Development Plan the County approves for the PUD, so ripping out required native plantings or substituting an unapproved species without County sign-off is a Plan Violation under Section 701.08. That routes the case to Article 19's general enforcement chapter, where Section 1901.04 makes any zoning violation a class B misdemeanor, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense, after the Building Commissioner issues a written cease-and-correct notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a builder use non-native trees in a PUD's common areas?
Do bioswales let a developer skip the native-plant requirement?
Are native shrubs mandatory throughout the development?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Jefferson County
Compare Jefferson County to another location·View the Alabama landscaping rules overview
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