Fort Myers, FL Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Any development in Fort Myers that installs required landscaping, buffer yards, parking lot islands, building perimeter plantings, or general site trees, must draw at least 75 percent of its trees and 50 percent of its shrubs from Florida native species, per Land Development Code § 138-42(b). The same chapter separately requires large developments of ten acres or more that contain existing native plant communities to preserve half their required open space on-site through those communities rather than replant elsewhere, under § 138-3. Single-family and duplex lots are largely exempt from the chapter's landscaping requirements, except for buffer-yard and permitting provisions.