Volunteers take part in Arlington National Cemetery clean-up

Landscapers visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to help spruce up some of its 624 acres. They called it a day of renewal and remembrance at our nation's most sacred cemetery.

"We'll be touching about 50 percent of the cemetery today. Between liming 180 acres, we'll be applying gypsum to soften the soils here to another 40 or 50 acres," said Phil Fogarty with the National Association of Landscape Professionals.

More than 400 volunteers spent the morning on the grounds. Most of them are professional landscapers representing 100 companies from 30 states. Some of them are veterans.

"And we'll be doing other things to the landscape like aerating the lawns and seeding, and things like that. Little gaps here and there that we can help to rejuvenate this beautiful place," Fogarty said.

Several tree service companies installed lightning protection for some of the cemetery's oldest trees while another team planted shrubs in a courtyard.

"This is one of the older columbarium courts, so we thought this would be a great project for them and I developed it along with one of the companies that's doing some of the work in here," said Arlington National Cemetery horticulturist Kelly Wilson.

The National Association of Landscape Professionals organized the effort.