FDOT and the I-4 Ultimate work crews planted their first tree in late May. It also got 20 identical neighbors, signifying the beginning of the gradual landscaping efforts to come along the 21-mile interstate project.
The $2.3 billion project has allotted $28 million to be spent on planting about 14,500 canopy and flowering trees, 4,400 palms, 10,625 buffer shrubs and 60,200 smaller shrubs and ground covers, according to a post we shared in 2015, HERE. A more recent report states that nearly one million SF of irrigation will be installed to support these plantings.
The tree palette will include:
- Silver Bismark Palm
- Canary Island Date Palm
- Live Oak, Red Oak
- Pignut Hickory
- Dogwood
- Muskogee Crape Murtle
- Great Southern Magnolia
- Flame Red Myrtle
- Bald Cypress
- Southern Red Cedar
- Maki Yew Pine
The planting program calls for using Florida-native and non-invasive plants to limit maintenance and ensure long-term survival of the the plantings.
At this point, it is unclear how many mature trees were removed for the expanded interstate.
