Renewal and Remembrance at Arlington

During PLANET's 16th annual ''Renewal and Remembrance'' at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia children learn the importance of planting milkweed as it is the only species of plant that the Monarch butterfly larvae will eat.

Earlier this week more than 400 volunteers spent the day beautifying Arlington National Cemetery for the 16th annual ''Renewal and Remembrance'' event hosted by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET).

Each year members of PLANET work together to honor the nation's veterans and fallen service members by volunteering their expert hands in landscaping the grounds. Although this began as a small one-day event over a decade ago it has grown substantially. Norman Goldenberg, PLANET president, said ''We have more trouble keeping the volunteers away than getting them to come here because we are limited to the number of people that can actually come here and perform this work.''

This year 82 professional lawn care and landscape companies from 29 states donated their time, equipment and other goods. Volunteers pruned, aerated, updated irrigation systems, planted, spread lime, and cabled some of the trees for lightning protection on 150 acres.

Children of PLANET members also had the opportunity to join in on special projects, such as planting native grasses, participating in the laying of the wreath at the ''Tomb of the Unknown Soldier'' and a tour of the Arlington House.

Renewal and Remembrance is the largest event PLANET participates in, and represents $250,000 of services and goods a year donated to the cemetery. In the past 16 years, more than $2 million in goods and services have been donated.

For more information about PLANET please visit landcarenetwork.org

This and other events are listed at landscapearchitect.com. To view the calendar of upcoming events, visit www.landscapearchitect.com, go to the Associations/Events?EUR??,,????'?????<