I visited family in Maryland over Easter weekend. During the visit, we stopped at an old cemetery near my sister-in-law’s house. What I found was one of the best ‘restorations’ of an old cemetery I have ever seen. An idea I’d love to see here in Putnam County.
What they did that was so unique this: A typical cemetery restoration involves removing all the trees, except maybe a few, to be able to plant grass. What they did at Whipps Garden Cemetery was leave the large trees and create meandering paths amongst the headstones. Woodchips lined the footpaths. Then, local garden clubs, scouting grouns and other community organizations were brought in to ‘adopt’ area to create landscaping and maintain their area. A sign with the organization’s name was place in their area of responsibility. Flowering plants and groundcover dressed the gravestones. One group created a butterfly garden. Another group created a herb garden. There are a number of benches.
They also added educational/historical info – for example, one of the Whipps family members gravesites now has a picture (while still living) of the interred. The oldest gravesite is marked. And one of the most impactful facts of this cemetery is the large percentage of infants and children interred here. Boy are we fortunate live in a time of amazing medical advancement.
Many of Putnam’s historic cemeteries would be perfect for this sort of ‘restoration’, which I believe has much wider appeal than the traditional notion of restoration. For more info visit http://www.ellicottcity.net/tourism/attractions/whipps_garden_cemetery/
