On May 10, 2012, Robert Riefer wanted to make a generous and unique gift to Lee County. He wants to move it from his home and plant it miles away. But, he says he wants the county to do the leg work!
Riefer says he is a horticulturalist at heart.
“A tree of this size, about 22-feet, is about 200-years-old,” Riefer explained.
To most people, it may look just like any other cabbage palm, but this one is different.
At the very top, it splits into two – which Riefer says is a rare sight.
“I know of about a dozen in the state,” Riefer told the Gazette.
But the gardener doesn’t want it anymore! Instead, he wants to take his gift and pay it forward.
Riefer wants to move the palm tree from the front yard of his Lehigh Acres home to the intersection of Lee Boulevard and Homestead Road – the well-known front door of Lehigh Acres.
He says there’s just one catch.
“They get the pleasure of moving it. It won’t fit in the back of my Toyota truck,” he said.
Before Lee County can accept the generous donation, the Department of Transportation will need to figure out exactly how much it would cost to move.
Riefer says he’s confident they can.
“This tree is no more expensive to move than any other,” he said.
He says it’s a gift from a green thumb that would leave a lasting impression on Lehigh’s landscape.
“It’s not what we accumulate – it’s what we leave behind that counts,” Riefer said.
In June 2016 Palm tree dies of old age and was cut down by the county.