Nassau County, FL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)
Key Facts
- Trees
- At least 80% must be native species
- Shrubs/groundcover
- At least 60% must be native species
- Monoculture
- Prohibited; diversity in species required
- Baseline
- Must still meet LDC section 37.05
- Where it applies
- Only inside the Timber to Tides Design Overlay
Summary
Inside the Timber to Tides Design Overlay along SR 200/A1A, new landscaping has to lean native. The Land Development Code requires at least 80 percent of all trees and 60 percent of shrub and groundcover plantings to be native species, on top of the baseline standards in LDC section 37.05, and it bans monoculture planting outright.
1.Baseline requirements. Landscaping shall meet or exceed the minimum requirements of section 37.05 LDC unless otherwise specified. ... 3.Native and climate-appropriate vegetation. A minimum of eighty percent (80%) of all trees and sixty percent (60%) of shrub and groundcover plantings shall be native species. Monoculture planting is prohibited; diversity in species selection is required to improve resilience.
Full Breakdown
05 of the Land Development Code sets the landscaping requirements for the Timber to Tides Design Overlay (T2TDO), the SR 200/A1A corridor through Yulee and East Nassau. 05 says otherwise. 3 then layers on a native-species mandate found nowhere else in the county's code: at least 80 percent of all trees and 60 percent of shrub and groundcover plantings on a site must be native species, and monoculture planting, relying on a single species, is prohibited outright to keep diversity in the plant palette. The article frames this as part of a broader ecological-resilience goal, tied to canopy-coverage requirements (60 percent shade over sidewalks and parking areas), a minimum 30-foot spacing for canopy trees, and mandatory native or climate-appropriate groundcover so that no bare soil is left exposed. 5 land west of I-95. 05 rules, without the 80/60 percent native-species threshold.
Violations & Fines
Landscaping on a site engineering plan is checked by county planning staff before development inside the T2TDO can proceed, and a plan short of the 80 percent tree and 60 percent shrub native-species thresholds is not approved. If native plantings are later removed or replaced with a non-native monoculture, LDC section 4.01 lets the code enforcement officer investigate, section 4.02 requires written notice of the violated section, and section 4.03 allows the county to seek a circuit court injunction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of new landscaping has to be native in Nassau County?
Does this native-plant rule apply countywide?
What other landscaping standards come with the native-plant rule?
Is there an exception to the buffer requirements in the overlay?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Nassau County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Nassau County to another location·View the Florida landscaping rules overview
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