Palm Beach Gardens, FL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Every new nonresidential project must set aside at least 15 percent open space and keep sod or grass to no more than 40 percent of the total landscape area under section 78-313(a) and (b). Section 78-313(c) then requires the project to hit a minimum score from Tables 26 and 27, which award landscape points per 100 square feet based on percent open space provided and on what gets planted. Native trees five inches or more in diameter at breast height earn 20 points plus one additional point for every inch over five, while trees that are not on the city's Preferred Tree Species list, or fall under 12 feet, earn only 5 points; specimen native trees and specimen palms each add 25 points, and shrubs or ground cover from the city's Preferred Shrub or Ground Cover lists earn extra credit as well.

A note to the table requires coastal-area projects to plant 90 percent native species drawn from the city's Preferred Tree Species list, and preferred and coastal species are catalogued in the city's Landscape Work Manual. Section 78-313(d) separately protects specimen trees, defined as existing native trees in good health at least 13 inches in diameter, or 25 percent of the state champion diameter for that species. At least 25 percent of a site's specimen trees must be protected in place or relocated, unless the applicant sets aside a qualifying upland preserve, replaces removed specimen trees at three caliper inches for every caliper inch destroyed, donates guaranteed replacement trees, or pays the appraised replacement value into the city's beautification account based on two landscape architects' wholesale-price estimates.