CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- Drive along Veteran's Memorial Parkway in Cape Coral and you might notice: trees. Thousands of them! It's all thanks to the effort of one Cape Coral man. 

Call him a modern day Johnny Appleseed, except he's not planting apples, but slash pines and bald cypress. "I love to get out in nature, my parents always had me camping," Russ Ringland said.  

You might know Russ Ringland for his construction company. But it's his passion for trees that's turning this busy road into a shaded paradise.  

"Cities that do this kind of thing attract better citizens and the quality of life is a little better," he said.  

Every year, he's rallied the community into helping him plant trees. Thanks to his effort, now more than 7,000 trees line the busy Veteran's Memorial Parkway. While some of the large trees are put in by the city, you'll notice Ringland's trees sitting in small groups along the side of the road.  

"Some of them get damaged by insects or hit by movers or people might run off the road and hit a tree but we just keep planting," Ringland said.  

All of this is done without costing the city a dime. It's all through donations and sponsors.

"I secure the funds to buy trees, and bring in the volunteers.  And we try to plant each year just before the rainy season," he said.  

His goal? to plant 20,000 and he's growing in the right direction. "We'll just keep plugging away until we get there."

Interested in volunteering or becoming a sponsor? Contact Russ Ringland at his construction company: Ringland Construction.

4637 Vincennes Boulevard  Cape Coral, FL 33904
(239) 945-7000