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Saluting Branches: the yearly tree care volunteer day at veterans' cemeteries, as VA and the organiser describe it

Saluting Branches is a day each September when tree care professionals volunteer at veterans' cemeteries across the United States. This page reports what the Department of Veterans Affairs, the organiser and the State of Delaware say about it, with the date of each statement.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the named sources say. ArboNation is not a partner of Saluting Branches and does not endorse it. It is a day of service for living tree workers to care for cemetery trees, not a remembrance day for tree workers who have died: those are on the guide to workers memorial days by country. No company names are listed.

What it is

The page on the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration site describes Saluting Branches as a nationwide day on which tree care professionals give time and skills to look after trees and grounds at national cemeteries. It says the aim is to improve how the cemeteries look and how safe they are, and it calls them symbols of the nation's history and service. It says event organisers coordinate with cemetery staff and volunteer tree care professionals, that volunteers are asked to sign up in advance with Saluting Branches, and that donations are not required to take part. It also invites volunteers to post photos or tributes on VA's Veterans Legacy Memorial. The same VA Saluting Branches page lists the participating locations for that year, a mix of national cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries and a few other sites.

Dates

YearDate as the source gives it
2025Wednesday, September 17, at the participating sites. One Montana state cemetery held its day on Friday, September 19. Start times were between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. local time and end times between 2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., with some sites on different start times set by the site leader. Source: VA page.
2026Wednesday, September 16. Source: the organiser's home page. The organiser's page carries no date for a following year.

On the organiser's site the day is titled "Arborists United For Veteran Remembrance". The site points to an event location page for the nearest volunteer site. Its footer says Saluting Branches was created by a tree care company in partnership with VA's National Cemetery Administration.

Scale, as officials stated it

These figures are dated statements, not totals for any other year.

  • 2018. A VA news release of September 18, 2018 said VA was partnering with more than 2,000 green-industry professionals on September 19 to host the day. It said volunteers would donate a full day's work, including pruning and trimming, at 53 veterans cemeteries, of which 36 were VA national cemeteries, and that volunteers had donated an estimated US$4 million in services the year before.
  • 2021. A State of Delaware news release of September 23, 2021 called the event the 7th annual one. It said the Delaware veterans cemetery at Millsboro was one of 40 sites across the United States and that the event attracted more than 3,000 volunteers. It described the Delaware work as trimming, shaping and removing hazardous trees, and quoted the cemetery's grounds foreman saying the oldest oaks were too large for the cemetery's own staff and equipment.

Where it started

The 2018 VA release says a tree care company in Minnetonka, Minnesota created the Saluting Branches Day of Service at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. It quotes the event's coordinator saying the day was developed by the green industry to honor veterans and benefit the environment through tree care.

Sources