Native plants and banned invasives: what a Pennsylvania landscaper should plant

Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

Which landscape plants does Pennsylvania ban?

More than many homeowners realize. Under the Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed Act of October 2017, the Department of Agriculture says it is a violation "to sell, transport, plant, or otherwise propagate" a listed noxious weed in Pennsylvania. The list sorts weeds into three classes, and the middle one, Class B, covers plants that are widely established and cannot feasibly be eradicated. It includes several shrubs and trees that, as the state's own invasive species program puts it, are planted to add beauty and ornamental value to a landscape:

  • Japanese barberry, except approved exempted varieties
  • Burning bush
  • Callery pear, often sold as Bradford pear
  • Chinese, European and border privet, with one approved European privet variety
  • Amur, Morrow's, Bell's, Tatarian and Standish honeysuckle
  • Common and glossy buckthorn, with one approved variety

Class A, for plants established but still limited enough to eradicate, includes Japanese privet, chocolate vine and the ornamental Japanese blood grass 'Red Baron'. The full list also covers weeds a landscaper meets in beds and borders, such as Japanese stiltgrass, garlic mustard, mugwort, lesser celandine, oriental bittersweet, Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose and tree-of-heaven.

What does that mean for a planting plan?

Read the plant list in any proposal against the state's list. A plan that includes a banned species, unless it is a named exempt variety, asks the company to do something the law forbids. The Department of Agriculture adds a related check on the supply side: landscape contractors that buy and resell nursery stock are nursery dealers, and certification commits them to deal only in inspected, certified plants. Nursery stock offered for sale is subject to inspection, and the department can issue stop-sale orders when it finds harmful pests.

What if those shrubs are already in your yard?

The law's ban is on selling, transporting, planting and propagating, and the state's approach to plants already in the ground is to encourage their removal. The state's Invasive Replace-ive Program says "numerous unsuspecting homeowners and commercial landscapers" may not realize the harm such plants do to nearby natural areas, and that removing them reduces the chance of their escaping into neighboring properties, parks and forests.

The program offered something in return. In 2026, property owners who removed one or more invasive trees or shrubs and submitted photos as proof could collect free native trees and shrubs at giveaway events. Its first-priority species were Callery pear, tree-of-heaven, princess tree, Norway maple, Japanese barberry, burning bush, butterfly bush, privet and autumn olive. Participants had to register and collect in person, and anyone who took part in 2025 could not take part in 2026. If you are unsure what a plant is, the program says to send photos to your local DCNR service forester.

What does the state say native plants offer?

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources defines a native plant as one that occurred in the region before European colonization, and counts about 2,100 in Pennsylvania. It also notes how far non-natives have spread: around the turn of this century, about 1,300 non-native species grew wild in the state, 37 percent of its wild flora.

DCNR lists the advantages of native plants for landscaping:

  • adapted to local soils, climate and conditions, and persistent through frost and drought;
  • seeds, insects and caterpillars that feed birds;
  • flowers that attract native bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds;
  • less maintenance, such as water and soil amendments, once established;
  • protection for native biodiversity, which DCNR says faces habitat loss, invasive species, deer browsing, pollution and over-collecting.

How should a native planting be done?

DCNR's tips read like a brief for a designer:

  1. Keep what is there. Conserve existing native vegetation first.
  2. Choose common natives, not rare ones.
  3. Buy nursery-propagated plants. DCNR says taking natives from the wild depletes wild populations, and many wild-dug plants do not survive transplanting.
  4. Match the plant to the site: wet or dry, sun or shade, acid or neutral soil.
  5. Limit fertilizer and pesticides.
  6. Never plant invasives, and if you use non-natives, pick ones that will not escape.

The Department of Agriculture's lawn guidance points the same way. It suggests mixing grasses or adding micro clover to a lawn, and says replacing some or all of a lawn with native meadow can, in the long term, reduce maintenance and runoff, while noting that not every site suits a conversion and that you should talk to local officials and neighbors first.

Do natives solve the deer problem?

No plant list does. DCNR names deer browsing among the threats to native plants themselves. The Chester County Master Gardeners say deer will eat nearly any plant they can reach in a harsh winter, and that a fence is effective if it is about eight feet tall and close to the ground. Ask a designer which plants it expects deer to leave alone, and what it proposes to protect the rest.

Anything else to look out for?

Tree-of-heaven deserves a mention. It is a Class B noxious weed, and Penn State Extension says the spotted lanternfly thrives on it, though the insect does not need it to complete its life cycle. And in fall, Penn State's Master Gardeners suggest leaving existing leaf layers in wooded corners alone, because insects and other small animals overwinter in them.

For the stormwater side of native planting, see rain gardens. To put these points to a company, use questions to ask a landscaper, and local businesses are on the landscapers directory page.

Sources

  1. Noxious Weeds and Controlled Plants, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
  2. Controlled Plant & Noxious Weed Lists, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
  3. Pennsylvania Invasive Replace-ive Program, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
  4. Landscaping with Native Plants, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
  5. Plant Merchant Certification, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
  6. Homeowners and Applicators, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
  7. Large Garden Pests (Chester County Master Gardeners), Penn State Extension
  8. Spotted Lanternfly Management Guide, Penn State Extension
  9. Leaves Are Treasure, Not Trash, Penn State Extension

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