Beachgoers will begin seeing more plants covering beach berms by the end of the summer as part of beach renourishment efforts by the city of Naples and Collier County. 

More than 2 million plants will be placed throughout beaches starting in July to stabilize the berm the county reconstructed using Federal Emergency Management Agency funds in 2023 following Hurricane Ian. The planting will start in the northern portion of the county and work its way south to the city.  

The berm will encompass two zones, with Zone 1 closest to the water and Zone 2 covering areas closest to development.  

Zone 1 will have the typical berm plantings of sea oats and bitter panicum. Zone two will be made up of common plants with 35% diversity species, including more than 10 flora that aren’t commonly seen on berms, such as gulf croton, coastal groundcherry and marsshay cordgrass. No more than 5% of a single diversity species will be allowed on the berm.  

“The 35% for Zone 1 is going to give us our variety that we don’t usually see in the planting plans and help us to get a much more resilient dune system, help us build our dune system a little bit and keep it structurally in place,” Naples Natural Resources Manager Natalie Hardman. “Of course, we can’t totally keep it in place with an Ian-type event, but we can try to recover it quicker.” 

In addition to the berm plantings, the Port Royal area will receive more sand as an extension of the FEMA berm on the beaches starting in November.  

The Park Shore area beaches also will be renourished. Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann requested construction and truck route plans for the Park Shore renourishment go in front of City Council before beginning any work on the area.