Palm Beach Gardens, FL Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Section 78-314(d), the residential landscaping standard in the Palm Beach Gardens Code, sets the city's parkway or street tree requirement for single-family and duplex lots. Beyond the general planting ratio of one tree or two palms and six shrubs per 1,000 square feet of open space, the section separately requires a shade tree drawn from the city's preferred tree list to be planted as a street tree, located either within the public road right-of-way itself or within 15 feet of the property line if the right-of-way will not accommodate it.

That tree counts toward the parkway landscaping the city expects along residential frontages and is distinct from foundation planting or perimeter buffer requirements that apply to nonresidential sites under sections 78-313 and 78-319. The landowner carries an ongoing duty under this subsection: if a street tree is removed for any reason, whether storm damage, disease, or a homeowner's own choice, it has to be replaced, with no exception written into the text for cause of removal. The point-value system in section 78-314(c) ties trees and plants to the same point values used in Table 28, so a removed and unreplaced street tree can also drop a lot below the landscaping points the city credited at the time of approval.

Growth Management and the city forester administer this standard, and it works alongside the roadway beautification plan in section 78-324 that governs landscaping in the public right-of-way along county and state roads passing through the city.