Putnam County, FL Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)

Sec. 45-511(c)(5) of the Land Development Code defines a street tree as a tree located in the planting strip between the sidewalk and the street, and sets the planting standard directly in the definition: street trees must be canopy trees. Sec. 45-511(c)(3) defines a canopy tree as a species that normally reaches a mature height of 40 feet or more, so the county is requiring a full-sized shade tree in the parkway strip rather than a small ornamental. Where overhead or underground utility lines conflict with a canopy tree's mature size, Sec.

45-511(c)(5) allows the developer to substitute two understory trees, defined at Sec. 45-511(c)(6) as species maturing to 15 to 35 feet, for each canopy tree that would otherwise be required. Because the standard sits inside the general landscaping article, it applies wherever a sidewalk-and-street planting strip is part of an approved landscape plan under Sec. 45-515, and any tree used to meet it has to come from the approved species list in Table 7.4, Appendix VII, matched to the canopy or understory category. Installed canopy trees need a five-foot undisturbed planting radius and understory trees a two-and-one-half-foot radius under Sec. 45-515(i), so the planting strip has to be wide enough to hold whichever category the developer chooses.