Peoria, IL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Sec. 13-1 of the City Code defines "weeds" as all noxious vegetation and all grasses, annual plants, and vegetation other than trees or shrubs that exceed a height or length of ten inches, but the same sentence then states that the term does not include cultivated flowers, gardens, and native plants. The same section separately defines "native plants" as ones that occur naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without direct or indirect human intervention, and defines "cultivated" as managed and well maintained to a standard of good care taking according to the purpose.

Because the ten-inch height trigger that drives the city's weed-abatement notices under Secs. 13-3 and 13-4 only applies to "weeds" as defined, a lot planted with native species or a cultivated garden falls outside that trigger regardless of plant height. This exemption sits inside Chapter 13, Garbage, Litter, Vegetation and Inoperable Motor Vehicles, which the department of community development, the police department, and the fire department jointly enforce under Sec. 13-2. The carve-out was added to the definitions section by Ord. No. 17360, adopted April 26, 2016, which restructured the weed and litter abatement scheme city-wide.