CHICAGO — The sky’s not quite the limit for gardeners in Chicago — but a newly passed ordinance does mean residents can now grow taller plants without risk of getting in trouble.
The City Council approved a rule change Wednesday that allows gardeners to grow native plants that are up to 36 inches tall on parkways. Previously, such plants could only be up to 10 inches high or gardeners risked being fined.
The ordinance was introduced by Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who said he noticed that a change was needed while participating in the Sheffield Neighborhood Association’s annual garden walk.
Hopkins noticed native and pollinator gardens in parkways — the land between the sidewalk and street, which often contains trees, grass and plantings — have many plants that are beneficial to the environment and insects, he said.
But many of those plants, including locally native species such as purple coneflower, prairie blazing star and milkweed, grow to be taller than 10 inches.
That limitation meant some gardeners avoided such plants, even though experts are increasingly urging people to grow native, pollinator-friendly gardens to benefit local species, such as monarch butterflies. Others gardeners took the risk, which meant they could be, and sometimes were, subjected to fines.
The rule changed passed the City Council in an unanimous voice vote.
“Ten inches was just simply too low. That was a legacy figure that was arbitrary in nature that we inherited,” Hopkins said. “Butterfly milkweed, in particular, thrives at about 3 feet, that’s where you get the blooms on top, which is what monarchs use to feed and lay their eggs.”
A monarch butterfly collects nectar at North Pond in Lincoln Park on Aug. 11, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Gardeners and environmental advocates are excited for the change, as some gardeners have clashed with the city over the plant height rules.
That includes Cathy Cummings, whose award-winning native garden was ticketed by the Department of Streets and Sanitation for $600 in 2012 for violating what was then the city’s weed-control ordinance. Cummings said she did not have any weeds in her garden and sued Streets and Sanitation, the Chicago Reader reported. The outcome of the case is unclear.
Naomi Davis, founder of Woodlawn-based gardening organization Blacks In Green, said increasing the height limit for native plants gives gardeners more grace in building much-needed green spaces. Blacks In Green operates the Mamie Till Mobley Forgiveness Garden near the home where Mobley raised her son, civil rights icon Emmett Till.
“We’re in it to make beautiful communities and communities where neighbors can gather peacefully and enjoy the benefits of nature,” Davis said. “People should understand that’s not neglect.”
The City Council in 2021 tried to differentiate between native plants and weeds with the creation of the Native and Pollinator Garden Registry, which gave such gardens protections against fines, WTTW reported at the time.
The new height maximum applies only to gardens listed in the Native and Pollinator Garden Registry. The registry helps the city distinguish native and pollinator plants when inspecting parkway and community gardens for potential ticketing for unkempt weeds, said Gloria Pittman, deputy commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation.
A native and pollinator garden advisory board, which formed thanks to the 2021 registry law, also helps inform the city’s governing of such gardens.
“We now have learned that [native plants] grow over 10 inches and, No. 1, they’re not weeds,” Pittman said. “The department is going to rely on education from the experts that are members of the board.”
The city has no record of fining people for their overgrown pollinator gardens, but the Department of Streets and Sanitation has issued more than 5,000 tickets for weed overgrowth in parkways since 2021, according to city officials and data provided to Block Club.
“People will be more aware of those growers and gardeners that were previously affected by a ward superintendent or inspector writing tickets on what was really a native garden, not being educated on what it was [and] using a weed ordinance to support” issuing a ticket, Pittman said. “We know that pollinators really help environmentally.”
Many Chicagoans who aren’t particularly into gardening will also appreciate the change for the aesthetic and environmental benefits such gardens bring, said Brian Comer, president of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association.
“Parkways provide a huge opportunity for us to just have any level of greenery, trees being the most important, but then native plants, so that the insects of the world depend on it,” he said “We want bees to be able to do their job. We want the native environment to exist throughout the city.”
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