WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hundreds of lawn care and landscape professionals and industry suppliers and manufacturers shut down their businesses Monday at the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Renewal & Remembrance event to volunteer their time and skills to improving the grounds of two historic sites – Arlington National and Historic Congressional cemeteries.
The workers, who were split into more than 20 groups organized by crew leaders, did a variety of tasks, including lime applications, weed control and aeration of the turf; irrigation installation; tree pruning and cabling; mulching and installation of trees and plant materials – all amidst the cemeteries’ normal schedules, which including tours as well as 27 funerals at Arlington National, which is the 612-acre final resting place of more than 200,000 veterans and their dependents.
During the initial presentation, PLANET President John Gibson said Renewal & Remembrance has blossomed into a huge volunteer event. “The industry has contributed more than $1 million over the past 10 years to the cemeteries and $204,000 this year alone,” he explained, adding that this is his eighth year at the event.
Bob Dolibois, executive vice president of the American Nursery & Landscape Association, also spoke, sharing a personal story about his five years in the U.S. Navy that included three destroyer deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. “During an experience like that you leave behind follow soldiers and sailors,” Dolibois said, adding that his best friend and fraternity brother, who received a medal of honor, is buried at Arlington. “You bring an enduring value with landscaping. With your efforts today, you will add to the natural beauty, serenity, reflection and peace of this cemetery.”
Volunteer Norm Goldenberg, vice president of government/regulatory affairs for The TruGreen Cos., agreed. “This is an awe-inspiring opportunity – I’m proud of what we’re doing. This is a tremendous accomplishment.”
Gibson ended his speech by bringing attention to the importance of industry collaboration for one great effort. “Our work is a gift to two great American monuments and a gift to the American people,” he said. “By giving we give back to American heroes and their families. By working together we can make a huge difference.”
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A TruGreen ChemLawn employee spreads lime to improve the clay soil on the Arlington National Cemetery grounds. Photo: Lawn & Landscape
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A ProLawn Plus employee uses a walk-behind spreader to get lime inbetween tight spaces at Arlington. Photo: Lawn & Landscape
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Maryland’s Takoma Tree Experts prune a large tree at Arlington. Photo: Lawn & Landscape
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At Arlington Cemetery, New Jersey’s Farmside Landscape & Nursery employees plant one of six trees along a hillside. Photo: Lawn & Landscape
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Workers from Irrigation Services Inc., Front Royal, Va., install irrigation piping at Arlington. Photo: Lawn & Landscape
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Employees from Chapel Valley, Woodbine, Md., and McFall & Berry, McLean, Va., finish installing a shrub bed at Arlington. Photo: Lawn & Landscape
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(Left, below) Volunteers put down herbicides to help eliminate the many weeds growing at Historic Congressional Cemetery. Photos: Doug Obermann, PBI/Gordon
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