Tallahassee, FL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Section 5-85(l) sets the buffer standards that implement the land use development matrix in the Land Development Code wherever new development, redevelopment or a change of use creates a land use conflict identified in Sec. 10-177. Subsection (l)(4) requires that 40 percent of the total number of individual plants required for each category, canopy tree, understory tree and shrub, be native species, with the city's growth management department supplying a list of recommended plant materials to help applicants hit that mark. The native-species floor sits alongside other buffer standards in the same subsection: at least 75 percent of required plant material must be evergreen, shrubs must be a minimum of 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide at planting and capable of reaching eight feet at maturity, and existing vegetation already on site is preferred over new plantings if growth management staff confirms its quality.

The planting schedule tied to this section, keyed to buffer zone width and to Landscape Standards A through D, sets the actual plant counts per 100 linear feet of buffer, and those counts are what the 40 percent native and 75 percent evergreen ratios apply against. Buffers narrower than ten feet under Standard C or D also require a buffer fence in addition to the plantings.