The Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association is replanting Banyan Street. Fourteen banyans, each about 25 feet tall and weighing between 8,000 and 9,000 pounds, are set to travel from a tree farm in Hobe Sound to the Village, with GICIA aiming to finish before the end of 2026. Of the 22 historic trees left on the street before the 2024 storms, eight survived. When the new trees go in, they will outnumber the old ones almost two to one. For the next stretch of years, Banyan Street will be a young street with a few elders left standing, which is close to how it looked when it was first planted.
Eight survivors and fourteen newcomers
The street goes back about 111 years. GICIA's account, published by the Boca Beacon on October 15, says designer Carl Rust Parker drew up a plan around 1915 to line what was then called Second Street with banyans. The Library of Congress's Historic American Landscapes Survey record describes the street as an allée of Ficus benghalensis. It notes the design may have been part of Parker's 1914 plan and dates initial construction to about 1914 to 1915. Sources disagree on how many trees went in at the start, but everyone agrees on what grew from them. Over a century, the canopy closed overhead and the street became a favorite backdrop for photographs and weddings.
By 2024, 22 of those original trees were still standing. Hurricanes Charley and Ian had already done damage. GICIA's release says the floodwaters from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 "proved especially devastating," and 14 of the 22 were lost. That leaves eight trees from the Parker era. Once planting is done, the street will hold 22 banyans again. Fourteen will be new arrivals, set among eight trees that have stood there for more than a century.
| On Banyan Street after replanting | Count | Approximate age |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving historic banyans | 8 | About 111 years |
| New specimen banyans from Becker Tree Farm | 14 | Farm-grown, about 25 feet tall |
Two years of watching them fail
The trees did not all go at once. The Boca Beacon followed it for two years, and the record shows a slow loss.
- June 2024. Before either storm, Lee County hired certified arborist Rick Joyce to survey the trees' health, with a full report expected by mid-summer, according to the Boca Beacon.
- November 2024. After Milton, the Boca Beacon reported that leaves had come back and that trees near Park Avenue looked like they were recovering. Lee County had cleaned around the trees and was hand-watering them.
- February 2025. Crews from Coastline Tree, led alongside Joyce as Lee County's consultant, pruned dead branches and kept limbs out of the roadway while the trees recovered from the fall hurricanes and salt water, as the Boca Beacon reported.
- April 30, 2026. The Boca Beacon reported two more historic trees removed that week, after earlier removals of one tree in January and three in November.
- May 14, 2026. Two more came down, including a large tree on the north side, according to the Boca Beacon.
- October 2026. GICIA reported that Lee County DOT had removed all 14 trees that were dead or beyond saving. The week the announcement ran, the county was still pulling stumps.
The trees leafed out after Milton, and the removals came over the following year and a half anyway.
Why the replacements arrive at 25 feet
The size of the new trees comes from a test run a few blocks away. GICIA says it started looking at large specimen trees for Banyan Street after a big banyan did well in GICIA's Town Park the previous summer. The Boca Beacon covered that planting in May 2025. A 20-foot banyan arrived on Thursday, May 1, and went into the center of the park between Third and Fourth Streets.
Rick Joyce, who watched over the old trees as Lee County's consultant, searched South Florida for trees good enough for the street. He found 14 at Becker Tree Farm in Hobe Sound. Speaking in GICIA's release in the Boca Beacon, Joyce described them this way:
"These are impressive trees, both in size and character. They are approximately 25 feet tall and have been grown to develop the distinctive prop roots that give mature Banyans their unique character. Each tree weighs between 8,000 and 9,000 pounds, so moving and installing them will be quite an undertaking."
Joyce credits the prop roots with giving mature banyans their character, so these trees will arrive with that look already in place. GICIA published a schematic of the replacement trees with its announcement.
Who carries what
Moving 14 trees of this size takes more than one organization. The project is split between a county department and a private nonprofit, and each has its own part.
| Party | Role in the replanting |
|---|---|
| Lee County DOT | Removed the 14 dead trees, is pulling stumps and preparing the sites, will extend irrigation from Gilchrist Avenue to Banyan Street, and will keep watering the new trees |
| GICIA | Is buying, transporting and installing all 14 trees for just under $400,000 |
| Rick Joyce, certified arborist | Found the trees during a search across South Florida |
| Becker Tree Farm, Hobe Sound | Grew the 14 specimen banyans |
| Juniper Landscaping | Will unload the trees and install them |
The trip covers nearly 200 miles on seven flatbed trucks, with wide-load escorts and specialized equipment. The order of work is set. The county finishes site preparation first, then GICIA brings the trees in. The holes are already dug and the dead roots cleared, according to photo captions in the Beacon's coverage.
GICIA is paying for its share without a special appeal. "Thanks to the generosity of our membership over the years, the GICIA is in a position to take on this project without launching a special fundraising campaign," GICIA President Bruce Carbonari said in the release carried by the Boca Beacon. The county's commitment covers what comes after planting, with continued irrigation for the new trees once GICIA's crews leave.
A young street with old neighbors
GICIA has said plainly that the canopy will not close this winter. "We know these trees will not recreate that magnificent canopy overnight," GICIA Executive Director Misty Nichols said in the release published by the Boca Beacon. "It will take years for them to grow together, which is what makes this a true legacy project."
By the time this season is underway, the street will hold two generations of the same tree. Eight banyans from the Parker-era planting of 1914 to 1915 will stand among 14 trees grown at Becker Tree Farm in Hobe Sound. The new trees will be big on arrival, prop roots and all, but they will still be a century younger than their neighbors. The meeting of branches overhead that made the street famous will happen slowly, the way it did the first time.
GICIA's target is to have all 14 trees in the ground before the end of 2026, once Lee County finishes its site work. For anyone in the Village, that means seven flatbeds and an installation crew on Second Street's old route before the year is out, and a street that will look a little more like itself with each tree that goes in.
The banyans on Banyan Street are part of what makes a Village address what it is, and we follow their story closely. If you own near the street, or you are thinking about what the replanting means for a property you care about in the Historic District, Melissa Csank would be glad to talk it through over coffee in the shade of the eight that remain. Schedule a Private Consultation.
